Amber Moon
by TeresaShiho
Summary: This story takes place after the end of the manga. Koenma gathered them for an urgent mission at Genkai's temple, but little did they know that they'd meet Hiei's father. On top of that Hiei and Kurama get taken to another world! COMPLETE - being edited.
1. Chapter 1

"Koenma wants you to go on a mission?" Keiko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's weird, I know. I mean, I'm not even his spirit detective anymore." Yusuke replied. "Botan just flew by and told me that Koenma wants to meet me at Genkai's temple. Apparently Kuwabara and Kurama were invited too, and I hear that the toddler's having Hiei brought over from the demon plane."

"Whatever it is, it must be urgent." Keiko sighed. "You guys haven't been contacted by spirit world in almost a year."

"Yeah, not since those religious fanatics tried to take over." Yusuke muttered as he fell into thought. That was the last time the whole gang had gotten together. Even before that, they hadn't seen much of each other since the tournament on the demon plane. Now Kuwabara was busy with university, Kurama spent most of his time working with his step-dad, and Hiei had decided to stay on the demon plane with Mukuro. Over the past year, Yusuke had simply been living a rather peaceful life. He ran his ramen shop, and occasionally did favours for some of the local demons. He had to admit, it wasn't a bad life. That said, he was also looking forward to seeing the guys again.

"Well, we better get going." Keiko said.

"We?" Yusuke snapped to attention.

"Of course." Keiko replied. "You can't go have a group reunion and leave me behind!"

Yusuke sighed. "I know better than to argue with you. Alright, let's go meet up with Kuwabara and Shizuru so we can get to the temple."

* * *

"Yo. Long time, no see." Koenma said with a wave as he and Botan entered the temple that once belonged to Genkai. Yusuke, Keiko, Shizuru, Kuwabara and Kurama were already there, and seated in a small circle through a large candle-lit room. Yukina was there as well, which was to be expected as she often spent her time taking care of the now-uninhabited temple.

"It sure has been a long time! Still got that pacifier? Man, I missed poking fun at that!" Yusuke said with a laugh.

"Very funny..." Koenma scowled.

"Oh, Yusuke, it really is great to see you again!" Botan exclaimed.

"You see to be doing well, Botan." Kurama said.

"Why thank you, Kurama, as a matter of fact I have." Botan smiled. "And Keiko, it really has been too long. How are things between you and Yusuke?" The grim reaper asked with a wink.

"None of _your_ business, that's how." Keiko frowned.

"You don't need to be shy around us, Keiko. You and Yusuke have been dating for a while, haven't you?" Shizuru inquired.

Keiko blushed slightly. "Well..."

"Of course we've been dating!" Yusuke exclaimed with glee.

Suddenly, they heard one of the sliding doors open. "You humans are as pathetic as always." Hiei's voice echoed into the room.

"_There_ you are shorty! What took ya so long?" Kuwabara teased.

"It's not like the demon plane is next door, you fool." Hiei retorted. "This mission had better be important, Koenma."

"Yes, now that everyone is present we would appreciate some details." Kurama said.

Koenma nodded. "The mission I need you to complete is a search and, possibly destroy."

"Possibly?" The boys wondered.

"Yes." Koenma replied. "You see, for the past couple of months we have picked up traces of demons wandering around this temple's grounds, as if they're searching for something. We're not sure who these demons are, or why they've come here. So I would like you four to find out."

"I don't understand why you need us to do the job; the portal between worlds is completely open. It shouldn't be any surprise that demons are lurking about." Hiei said.

"Well, yes, that's true. At first we thought the same thing." Koenma explained. "However, things have become much worse. We were able to do a reading on the power level of the intruding demons, and, well... Their power levels are off the charts. Frankly, if these demons _are_ up to no good, and don't feel like settling this peacefully, then our agents won't be powerful enough to stop them."

"I see. That's why you called us." Kurama said.

Koenma nodded. "Usually I would try to think of other ways to solve this, but there is no other solution but to send in someone powerful enough to stop them if things turn for the worse. So, will you help me out?"

Yusuke smirked. "I'm in. Just remember that you owe me one for this." Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei nodded in agreement.

* * *

The four boys left the girls at the temple with Koenma, and headed out to search the area. There was a lot of ground to cover, so they mostly tried to rely on Kuwabara's sixth sense to lead them to anything out of the ordinary. Hiei was also using his jagan eye in the hopes of seeing something suspicious.

"Woah, guys, hold up!" Kuwabara exclaimed a few hours into their search. I can feel something... Like someone's trying as hard as they can to hide their presence... It must be who we're looking for."

"Which way?" Hiei asked. Kuwabara pointed, and Hiei began to search with his jagan until he found a figure. "I see someone. Let's go."

The boys followed Hiei as quickly as they could without making any noise. All four of them hid their presences, so that their prey wouldn't sense them approaching. Within minutes, they found the person that Kuwabara could sense and hid in the trees just close enough to get a look at who it might be.

"Hey, wait..." Yusuke muttered, as he rubbed his eyes and then refocused on the person they were spying on. "Does everyone else see what I see?"

"Yeah, I think so." Kuwabara replied. "For a moment there, I thought I was goin' crazy."

"Interesting..." Kurama muttered as he stared at the person curiously.

"What are you idiots going on about?" Hiei demanded.

"Seriously, Hiei? Are you really the only one who doesn't get it?" Yusuke and Kuwabara frowned.

"That's right; I _don't_ get what you're talking about." Hiei scowled. "Getting back to our mission... This guy is dangerous. I don't know what, but something about him seems off. We should ambush him, and take him out quickly."

"Woah, hold on-" Yusuke and Kuwabara tried to stop him, but it was too late. Hiei had disappeared, and was now attacking the person.

In the flash of an eye, Hiei unsheathed his sword, and swung it at the figure. However, much to Hiei's surprise, his target evaded him. Hiei readied for a counter-attack, but the person didn't move. It was a tall man who simply stared at Hiei curiously.

"Hiei! What the hell did you do that for?" Yusuke exclaimed as he popped out of the tree and growled at his friend. He was shortly joined by Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Yeah, don't go swingin' your sword around without making sure it's alright!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I don't know what your problem is, you fool, but this guy is obviously an intruder, and I thought our mission was to get rid of the intruder!" Hiei growled back.

"You're either blind, or as dumb as you are short!" Yusuke yelled. "Can't you see what's goin' on?"

"No!" Hiei said angrily.

"Hiei, even I have to agree with them..." Kurama said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hiei demanded.

"THIS GUY LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE YOU!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted in unison.

Hiei stared at the man he had just attacked. He was tall, wearing all black, and every visible inch of his skin was covered in scars. A long sword hung at his waist, along with what seemed like a variety of smaller weapons. His eyes were blood red, and his thick black hair flew out in every direction. Hiei stared for a while, unsure of what to say. Sure, there was a little resemblance, but it's not like he was going to admit that to the others.

Suddenly, the man looked directly at Hiei and smiled widely. "You know, despite what your friends say I don't see the resemblance." The four boys stared at the man with wide eyes. It wasn't exactly the response they had expected. "Anyway, I think this situation causes for an introduction. My name is Koray. What about you four?"

"I'm Yusuke, and this is Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei." The ex-spirit detective said as he looked over Koray carefully, trying to figure him out. "So, Koray, what brings you to this fine temple?"

"Oh... Just hunting some pests." Koray replied casually.

"So you come here often?" Kurama asked.

"No. This is my first time coming to this temple." Koray replied. He then smiled again. "I see. You're after them too."

"Huh?" The boys muttered, puzzled.

"The demons that've been running around for a while; you were sent by Spirit World to get rid of them weren't you."

"Hey, how do you know about that?" Yusuke and Kuwabara demanded.

"I know because I'm here to get rid of them too." Koray smirked.

"You know something about these demons, then." Kurama said. "Who are they, and why have they come to these grounds?"

However, before Kurama's question could be answered, an intense aura fell upon the boys. It was so strong, that they could barely move as it seemed to consume them. The four of them looked around, wondering where it came from.

"Well... It looks like they've finally shown themselves." Koray smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

The four friends stood, almost paralyzed as they searched for the ones emitting the intense auras.

"They've finally shown themselves..." Koray said with a little too much ease.

"Who's shown up?" Yusuke demanded.

"The Black Knights." Koray answered.

"Who?" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted in unison.

"You'll soon see." Koray said as six cloaked warriors appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They surrounded Koray and the four boys leaving nowhere to run. Because of their cloaks, it wasn't possible to tell what they looked like. One of them stepped forward. He must have been the leader of the group.

"It looks like we got the jump on you, Koray." He said confidently. Koray said nothing. "We knew you'd come here eventually, so we waited for you. And now that the kids are here to hold you back, it'll be much easier to kill you."

"Who's holding him back?" Yusuke shouted. "I'll have you know-"

"Enough, Yusuke. This is my fight, not yours." Koray said cutting off the spirit detective. "And as for you; I hope you don't actually think you caught me by surprise. I came here to get rid of you, so you had better leave before I start getting violent."

"You arrogant bastard! I'll show you!" One of the men yelled as he charged at Koray. But before the warrior could draw any weapons or use any of his powers, Koray disappeared. Within a second, Koray appeared behind the attacker, who fell to the ground in pieces, his blood staining the ground upon which they stood.

"So, who's next?" Koray said with a slightly confident grin.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei, not to mention the remaining Black Knight members stared with shock. Koray's speed was incredible. Unmatchable. And every movement was executed with smooth transitions and perfect swordplay.

However, unlike everyone else, the leader of the group of Black Knights was not swayed by Koray's skill. "Heh heh. This is going to be fun." He stated with a bloodthirsty grin. Suddenly, the ground cracked on his right side and opened up. Then a giant sword rose out of the newly created space and settled easily in the knight's hand. From this action Koray could tell that he was an earth demon who specializes in the manipulation of dirt, rock or ground, depending on the context and what the actual terrain is. The knight whispered one word before he attacked: "Die."

He swung the sword, which looked too heavy to be of use, with ease. The force created by that action caused the ground to almost erupt and send a tidal wave of rock, dirt and some of the stone stairs in Korays direction.

Rather than attempt to run away, Koray held his hand out behind him, gathering a large amount of aura there. Then he thrusted his arm forward, putting his whole body into it, and from his hand was released a large amount of flames that absorbed, stopped, and incinerated the entirety of his opponent's attack. Everyone else stared in awe, unsure of what to say.

"Th-that was... Incredible!" Yusuke barely managed to say.

"So much power in those attacks... And neither of them is worn out!" Kuwabara said.

"Yes, it's true. They are both very powerful." Kurama said with dismay. Hiei just stared, unsure of what to say or think.

"So, are you ready to give up?" Koray said arrogantly.

"Ha! Not until I've taken your head!" The knight screamed as he charged at Koray, but with must greater speed than his late companion. His sword met Koray's with a loud CLANG! And the two began sword fighting.

"For using such a large weapon, his movements are surprisingly smooth and diverse. Though, with his weapon, Koray still has the advantage because there are more techniques available to a regular sword." Kurama said with the usual intelligence. "The Black Knight is doing well, though. Because of his weapon size, his attacks are very heavy. It's all Koray can do to block."

The others observed the fight more closely, and found that Kurama was right. Koray was blocking more than attacking.

"No... you're wrong." Hiei said finally.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Hiei?" Yusuke screamed.

"He's not blocking because it's all he _can_ do, it's because it's all he _wants_ to do." Hiei explained.

"But that makes no sense!" Kuwabara yelled at his short friend.

"What I'm trying to say, you fool, is that Koray has the power to end it now, but he's holding himself back." Hiei said, becoming impatient.

"But why would he want to do that?" Yusuke asked, confused.

"I know," Kurama said. "He doesn't want it to end it too soon. He wants to enjoy the fight." No one said anything after that. After all, they could all understand how that feels.

Suddenly the ground began to move, and it molded onto Koray's feet so that he could no longer move. His opponent jumped back and powered up an incredibly huge amount of aura into his sword; much more than before.

"Now this can finally end!" The knight screamed as he swung his sword in Koray's direction, releasing all his energy in the process.

But Koray wasn't fazed. He surrounded his entire body with a flaming aura that melted the ground holding his feet. He lifted his hands above his head, and then quickly threw them in the direction of the blast coming towards him. It came out so much stronger, and absolutely devoured the attack, as well as the knight who unleashed it, and left a terrible trail of destruction.

Everyone stared in shock.

"I can't believe he could do something like that... And in such a short time..." Kurama said with utter amazement.

"Y-yeah..." Kuwabara agreed.

Koray turned around and began to approach the remaining Black Knights. "I grow tired of your games."

The Black Knights began to quiver in fear. The look on Koray's had changed drastically. He looked almost bloodthirsty, and possessed. They knew now that they had no hope of winning. Nor any chance of coming out of this fight alive.

"NO! WE WON'T LOOSE TO YOU!" They screamed in desperation. The Black Knights began to move around, in an attempt to distract Koray while one of them grabbed Hiei.

"HIEI!" The demon's friends yelled.

But before the knights could do or say anything, Koray appeared behind the one holding Hiei and sliced him in half, without harming Hiei in any way. Before the skewed body could hit the ground, Koray killed the other three warriors with what seemed like one swift movement that was executed with ease and grace.


	3. Chapter 3

After burning the bodies of his late foes, Koray followed Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei to the temple. When they got there, the girls along with Koenma awaited the return of the ex-spirit detectives.

"Oh, thank goodness you're back!" Botan exclaimed.

"Yes, we saw some big explosions and didn't know if you were alright or not." Keiko explained.

"Don't worry, Keiko. We're alright." Yusuke said.

Yukina then came forward. "Well, if any of you got hurt, I can use my healing powers to make it better." She said with an adorable smile on her face.

"Oh, Yukina! You're so sweet!" Kuwabara said loudly. "But there's nothing to worry about. Everyone came out of our mission scratch less."

"Think again, moron. If you ask me, _he_ needs some treatment." Hiei stated, motioning to Koray.

"Oh, and who would that be? He looks an awful lot like you, Hiei." Botan said as she carefully looked over the stranger.

"Guys, this is Koray." Yusuke said. "He's actually the one who did the fighting."

Everyone stared in wonder. They were still trying to absorb the fact that this stranger looked so much like Hiei.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." Koray said with a wide grin.

"Hold on, Shorty. You said he's hurt, but he looks fine to me!" Kuwabara said.

It was Kurama who answered Kuwabara's inquiry: "His legs... I could have sworn I heard the bones break when the ground secured them..."

"Ah... you and Hiei are pretty sharp." Koray said. "You're right; the bones in my legs and feet are most likely crushed."

Everyone almost jumped with surprise.

"Wait... How are you able to walk like that?" Kuwabara yelled.

"Walk? He shouldn't be standing!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Yeah, well... I don't feel pain." Koray said hesitantly.

"Really? Why not?" Keiko asked.

"Oh, you know... Things happen. It's a rather long story, best saved for another time." Koray responded, not making eye contact with anyone. The group wanted to find out what had happened, but no one said anything. Silence encompassed the room to the point that it was almost painful.

"I can heal your legs now if you want..." Yukina said, breaking the silence.

"That would be nice." Koray said with a large smile.

Koray followed his hosts into the temple. It was very large and traditional. The room they sat in was small, square and made entirely of wood. There was nothing in it, except for some cushions to sit on. They all sat down, and Yukina began healing Koray's legs. While she was doing that, Koray got the names of everyone he didn't already know.

"So what's a demon such as you doing here? I can't imagine you'd make the trip from Demon World just for sight-seeing." Shizuru asked of their new guest.

"Oh, I didn't come from Demon World." Koray replied with a smile.

"So... Spirit World, then?" Keiko asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, no. Not Spirit World!" Koray said quickly, while shaking his hands. "I hate to be rude, but unfortunately I can't tell you where I come from."

"Oh? And why's that?" Koenma asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Hm... The son of King Enma, of all people, asks..." Koray said, almost amused. "You've been eyeing me this whole time. And considering who you are, I imagine you already have an idea of what's going on. That said, I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask stupid questions."

Koenma didn't say anything further, but his face became twisted with rage over the rude manner in which Koray spoke to him. The others didn't say anything. They had no idea what to make of this small disagreement.

"So why are you here, anyway? I mean, you can answer that, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, I can answer that." Koray said with a chuckle. "I came here to speak with a member of your group."

"Really? Who is it?" Kuwabara asked, though it seemed obvious to everyone else.

"Hiei..." Koray begun, looking over at the fire demon. "I came here to tell you that I'm your father."

The group waited with silence for some sort of reaction from Hiei. Much to their confusion, he remained completely unchanged. Nobody was really surprised by the fact that Koray is Hiei's father, but they half expected Hiei to freak out more. What they didn't see was that Hiei had a completely different view on the situation than they did.

_'Hey, you can hear me, right?' _Hiei said to Koray, but telepathically rather than out loud.

_'Yeah. What's up?' _

_'Let's get one thing straight; I really don't care whether or not you're my father. I've never had any parents, and I certainly don't need one now. I don't know how much you know about me, but surely if you're aware that you have a son, then you know about Yukina too.'_

_'What about her?' _Koray asked.

_'She doesn't know I'm her brother. I've been keeping that a secret, and only select people in our group know. I'd like to keep it that way, so don't interfere. Got it?'_

_'Yeah... Sure.'_

"How long are they gonna sit there staring at each other?" Kuwabara asked, looking at the two demons who had not broken eye contact for a while.

"They're probably communicating telepathically." Kurama said.

"Why would they do that?" Botan asked.

"This is personal to Hiei. He probably has things to say to Koray that he doesn't want us to hear." Kurama responded.

Finally, Koray said: "Fine, I understand."

"Understand what?" The others questioned as they stared, confused, at Koray and Hiei.

"Well, you probably don't want me around any longer..." Koray said to Hiei as he stood up, now that his legs were healed. "I'll just go home."

"Please don't leave..." Yukina said with a sad look on her face. "You just got here, and we would like to get to know you some more."

"Guys... " Koenma started, but no one heard him.

"Yeah, it's not every day you get to meet a relative of Hiei's! Stick around; I'm sure there's some booze lying around." Yusuke said with an excited smile.

"Guys!" Koenma yelled, finally getting everyone's attention. "Don't be insensitive. We have to consider Hiei's feelings on the matter. Something like this no doubt upsets him, and he probably doesn't want to be around Koray. Let's let the man leave with peace."

"Actually, Koenma, the situation doesn't bother me at all. I don't mind if he stays for a little while, but first," Hiei said turning to face Koray. "I want to hear your story. But only to make sure you're someone trustworthy. Feel free to consider it a chance to convince me you're who you say you are."

"Alright." Koray said with a smile. "Though, considering the circumstances, you probably want to talk in private."

"Of course. Now follow me." Hiei said as he began to walk leave the room.

"No! Hiei, WAIT!" Koenma screamed as he grabbed Hiei's arm. Everyone started with surprise. They had never seen Koenma act this way. "Hiei... I'm begging you, don't go anywhere with him!" Koenma said, with extreme nervousness. Hiei was speechless. What in the world was Koenma so worried about?

"You know, Koenma..." Kurama said with a hint of suspicion. "Ever since Koray got here, you haven't let him leave you're sight... And you're acting stranger than usual. I wonder what you know about him that puts you on such edge... Or perhaps YOU would care to explain it, Koray?"

Neither Koray nor Koenma spoke. They simply stared at each other, pondering what they should do next. Suddenly the team of Spirit Detectives sensed a group of familiar auras arrive outside the temple. One of them came inside and said:

"Sir, we have arrived as you requested."


	4. Chapter 4

"Sir, we have arrived as you requested." Ootake, captain of the Spirit Defense Force, said as he walked into the temple. There were seven more SDF members waiting outside.

"Thank you Ootake." Koenma sighed, having relaxed a little.

"Koenma, what the hell is going on?" Yusuke shouted angrily.

"You called the SDF?" Kurama said with a shocked look on his face. "They only mobilize for emergencies... Why did you call them here?"

"You don't understand," Koenma said. "This IS an emergency. That man is a dangerous criminal, and we need to get rid of him."

"I don't know what you jerks in Spirit World are thinking, but Koray doesn't seem like a criminal to me!" Yusuke responded, while motioning with his hands.

"Yeah! He helped us on our mission! He's done nothing wrong!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Koenma, what was his crime?" Kurama inquired.

"Mass murder... Not to mention multiple trespasses." Koenma said grimly.

"That doesn't seem so bad that you need him dead." Kurama replied.

"You don't understand, he's-"

"Koenma," Koray interrupted. "You should know that I've left my criminal life behind me. In fact, I've kept a clean slate for several years now."

"People like you don't change." Koenma said with spite.

"Well, generally speaking, you're right. People who live the way I used to usually don't change." Koray said with a slight smile. "But I did."

"You're wasting your breath. I refuse to believe that." Koenma said.

"Koenma," Hiei said suddenly. "If you don't believe in reforming criminals, then why are me and Kurama still alive? Surely, considering our crimes and the power we've obtained, we're both threats to Spirit World."

"The situation is completely different..." Koenma started.

"Bullshit." Hiei said to the young ruler of Spirit World. "I've seen you guys do this before. I don't know what personal grudge you have against him, but I can tell that you're twisting the law for your own convenience."

"Hiei, that's not the case!" Koenma yelled, trying to get Hiei to listen.

"You know, Koenma, I'm tired of this." Yusuke said with a stern face. "I may be an idiot, but even I can see that Hiei's assumptions hold some truth. C'mon guys, let's get outta here."

Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara and Koray turned to leave, but they found themselves surrounded by the SDF.

"I'm afraid we can't allow you to leave." Ootake said. "If you continue to take this criminal's side, then we will put you under arrest for assisting him. Resist and we will use force."

"This is a load of crap!" Yusuke screamed at the SDF.

"You're not really gonna arrest us, are you Koenma?" Kuwabara asked nervously.

"If you continue like this, I'm afraid I might just have to." Koenma responded with no remorse whatsoever.

"This is troublesome..." Kurama said.

"I can't believe this is happening! I'm a good person, I can't be arrested! I've still gotta live my life, marry my love, and have a big family!" Kuwabara whined.

"What are you talking about, Koenma?" Koray said, spreading confusion around the room. "These kids aren't assisting me. In fact, I'm gonna beat the shit out of all your SDF members and the kids won't do a thing."

"What did you say?" Koenma and Ootake screamed in unison.

"Sure," Koray replied. "And I estimate that it won't take longer than three minutes. Oh, by the way. Genkai, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to escort the young ladies out of here. We wouldn't want them to get hurt."

"Yeah..." Genkai said as she, Yukina, Botan and Keiko left the room.

"Hmph! If you want to die that badly, I don't mind complying with your challenge. ATTACK!" Ootake yelled, and at that moment four SDF members raised their hands and began firing balls of energy from their hands in Koray's direction. The other three began moving around the room, waiting for an opening. Koray dodged all the long range attacks with ease, but then one of the others appeared behind him. The SDF member went to attack, but Koray ducked down, causing the assault to miss him. Then Koray quickly shifted his weight to his left foot, and kicked up with his right, making contact between his opponent's chin and neck. The attack sent the SDF member shooting up through the roof and far into the air. He landed on the front lawn, unconscious.

"One down," Koray said confidently in order to provoke the others.

Two more attackers came forward, one attacking from the left, the other from the right. Koray stepped over to the left side attacker, grabbed him, and threw him at the right side attacker. The two went flying, and fell to the floor hard beside each other with a grunt. But before they could get up, Koray had jumped above them. In a spit second, he brought all his weight down through his feet as he stomped on them, one foot into each abdomen. A little blood came out of their mouths before the two fell unconscious.

"Three down."

This time, Koray did the attacking. He disappeared from sight for a moment and reappeared in front of a brown-haired, insecure looking female SDF member. His fist was already suspended behind him, and he brought it forward into her face with great force. The girl flew fast through the wall of the room and outside through the stone wall which surrounded the temple. Using incredible speed, Koray did the same to the other three members.

When it came to Ootake, Koray slowed down, and begun a head-on assault. He placed his hand on his sword, and in what seemed like one swift movement, his sword was drawn and Ootake was covered with deep cuts all over his body. He crashed to the ground in a bloody mess.

"There's no need to worry, Koenma. They're just flesh wounds. He won't die if you give him quick treatment." Koray said, while sheathing his sword. "So Kurama, how's my time?"

"That's... Two minutes exactly!" Kurama said with a little shock.

"Hm... Guess I over-estimated my opponents."

"You fiend!" Koenma screamed in a fit of rage.

"Well, let's go." Koray said to Hiei. "After all, it's not as though Koenma can stop us by himself."

"Alright." Hiei replied.

"Hiei! Stop! I mean it, don't go with him!" Koenma tried one last time, but to no avail.

"Quiet." Hiei said to Koenma. "You can't control me. I go where I want to go."

And with that, Hiei and his father left.

The two fire demons walked far into the forest surrounding Genkai's temple. The plants and trees became much thicker the further in they went. There were also more demons, but they were all weak and knew better than to challenge those stronger than them. The walk was silent. Neither of them spoke a word to the other, but on the inside there were many thoughts and emotions swimming in the heads of Hiei and Koray. Eventually they came to a stop. They stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them could decide what to say first.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to know?" Koray asked.

Hiei didn't answer right away. He thought about what he actually cared about, and finally said: "You weren't there..."

"For you?"

"For her... my mother... and all of us." Hiei said softly and with a little hesitation. "Were you afraid? Ashamed?"

"No, it was nothing like that..."

"Well, what? You had to have known what they'd do!" Hiei stated loudly.

"Yes, I knew. And believe me, if I had the choice I would have stayed." Koray said, looking into Hiei's eyes. He paused for a moment to think, and then said: "You probably understand better than anyone else... The place I come from has rules similar to those of the Ice Maidens, but they're much stricter."

Hiei simply stared his father, beginning to understand.

"I was sent to the Ice World by accident… I met you mother, of course." Koray let out a soft smile, while thinking of the woman he loved. "Hina... She looked after me while I was there, and managed to keep it a secret from the other ice maidens. That short time I spent with her, was the happiest I had ever been. When we found out she was pregnant, neither of us were ashamed. We were looking forward to raising a child. But those bastards from my homeland found me… It was all I could do to get them to let Hina live. In exchange they arrested me, and wasted no time administering my punishment."

"What did they do to you?" Hiei asked. Koray said nothing, and Hiei then realized what it meant. The scars on his father's body were proof enough. "It doesn't matter... Clearly they couldn't keep you locked up forever. What happened after that?"

But before his question could be answered they both felt a strange energy, and then a large black portal appeared a few feet away.

"Be careful..." Koray said to Hiei as he stepped in front of his son and placed a hand on his sword.

Out of the portal stepped a large muscular man with dirty blond hair, a stubby beard, and black eyes. He wore fancy armor, which showed that he had high status, and his aura indicated that he was a demon.

"Oh, it's just you, Reuel." Koray said, relieved.

"Koray, I hope you realize how much trouble you're in!" Reuel stated with a hint of anger.

"Come on! It's not that big of a deal." Koray said, trying to brush off the topic.

"You know full well that every time you pull a stunt like this, I'm the one who gets yelled at! And quite frankly, I'm sick of it. So is Lady Katana." Reuel scolded his friend.

"You know Katana just doesn't like me! She's only making up excuses to get me in trouble. And for your information, this time I have an especially good reason for coming here."

"Fine... Let's hear it." Reuel said with a sigh, not expecting there to be any decent excuse.

"Hiei, could you come over here?" Koray said to the small fire demon who had stepped away from the two friends. Hiei hesitated, but then went over to them. "Reuel, this is Hiei. He's my son. And Hiei, this is Reuel. I guess you could say we're best friends."

"Jeez! He looks just like you!" Reuel said with a little surprise. He bent down to get a better look at Hiei. "Ha ha! He's a chip of the old block, eh." As he said that, Reuel placed his hand on Hiei's head and patted it. Hiei, however, furiously swatted away the hand. "Feisty little guy..."

"Let's get one thing straight, you ape!" Hiei said angrily. "The fact that I'm small gives you no right to treat me like a kid! And while you're at it, don't touch me like that either!"

Reuel stared at Hiei, astonished at the words that came out of his mouth. Then he turned to Koray and said: "Not very polite is he?"

Koray just shrugged. Reuel took another look at Hiei, who just glared back. He could tell that Hiei had been through a lot. He was just like his father…

"Koray, I know this is important to you, but we really have to go back."

"Reuel-"

"Don't argue!"

"Please." Koray begged, looking directly into directly into his friend's eyes. Reuel was at a loss. He couldn't deny Koray time with his son, but they'd both be in a lot of trouble if they didn't go back right away. Then he thought of something: "Hiei, why don't you come back with us?"

"What?" Hiei said, taken aback.

"Well, sure. I don't mean forever, just a week or something. It'll give you a chance to get to know your father better."

Hiei looked over at his father, who smiled and said, "Of course, no one's forcing you to do anything... But I'd really like it if you came."

Hiei stopped to think for a moment before he replied. "Sure..." He agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

"We should leave right away." Reuel said. "If we stay much longer, Lady Katana will have our heads."

"Yeah, you're right..." Koray replied nervously.

"Who's this 'Lady Katana'?" Hiei asked.

"She's the ruler of the Island of Wind." Reuel responded with pride.

"The Island of Wind?"

"Don't worry; when we get there we'll explain all the details." Koray said to his son.

Koray then turned away from Hiei and held out his hand out in front of him. Demonic aura began to gather around his hand. It swirled and became larger and larger. The energy then became black, as it was now big enough for someone the size of Reuel to walk through.

"Let's go." The fire demon said as he stepped into the portal, followed by Reuel.

Hiei stepped in after them. Everything became pitch black. His head was spinning, and felt almost drowsy. Hiei thought he felt something tug at his sleeve, but he was too out of it to pay any mind. Suddenly a white light appeared in front of him. Hiei could see his father and Reuel exit the portal with ease. Hiei saw where the ground was and tried to do the same, but somehow wound up on the ground.

"Haha, don't worry Hiei. It happens to everyone on their first time through a portal." Koray said with a little amusement in his voice.

"Whatever." Hiei groaned. Strangely enough, he heard more groaning from behind him. Hiei turned around to see lots of red hair and a familiar face. "Kurama! How did you..."

"Who is that kid?" Reuel whispered to Koray.

"A friend of Hiei's." Koray replied.

"Well, you see..." Kurama began, as they both stood up. "We were getting a little worried about you, and I left ahead of the others to find you. When I was finally able to track you down, you were walking into that portal. Out of impulse, I ran up and grabbed you sleeve. I never expected to be brought along..."

"Hmph! You sound like one of the fools." Hiei said to his friend, who just laughed off the comment.

"So, where are we?" Kurama asked. He and Hiei looked around. In front of them was a large medieval-looking stronghold. There was a large wall that surrounded them, and many guards moved around patrolling the grounds.

"We're on the Island of Wind." Koray explained. "This is the stronghold of our ruler, Katana."

"The Island of Wind... I don't believe I've heard of such a place..." Kurama said.

"Of course you haven't." Koray replied with a grin. "That's because we're in a completely different world."

"What?" Hiei and Kurama exclaimed with surprise.

"You heard me. See, the universe is actually made up of many small worlds. In most cases, common folk aren't aware of the other worlds' existence, but the supreme rulers such as Koenma and his father do. For that reason, I couldn't tell you and your friends where I come from. And naturally, very few people have the ability to travel between worlds."

"What's so special about this place?" Hiei asked.

"Nothing, really." Koray replied. "Certain events in history led us to be better informed."

"So I take it this isn't the place where you were arrested..." Hiei said questioningly and cautiously.

"No... That happened on my homeland, the Island of Fire. I took refuge here right after breaking out of prison." Koray explained.

"What are you two...?" Kurama began, but wasn't able to finish.

"You see, demons in this world tend to be close minded. Since ancient times they prefer to live only with demons of their own kind. In fact, when demons first came to the islands they refused to have any contact with each other, and the islands were named after the type of demons that lived there. Hence: the Island of Wind, the Island of Fire, the Island of Earth, and the Island of Water." Koray explained. "Most demons have remained true to their ancestors wishes, but some do allow other demons and humans to live with them. And this Island has been turned into something of a refugee camp. Humans and demons that were forced to leave their homeland for whatever reason can stay here, so long as they abide by the laws set up."

"Hey, Koray. I hate to interrupt, but she's here." Reuel said.

"Oh, great." Koray muttered sarcastically.

Hiei and Kurama looked over and saw a woman, followed by two men, approaching them. The woman had thick, dark brown hair that was tied up, except for her bangs which hung in her face. Her aura indicated that she was human. The man on her right looked just a bit older than Koray. His hair was the same color as Reuel's, and he also had the same black eyes. The man on her left was human and looked older, even though he probably hasn't lived as long as the demons. His hair was black, though there were some parts that were going grey, and his eyes were a light brown. Both men wore fancy, flattering armour just like Reuel.

"Finally, I see you two are back. Good work, Reuel." The woman said.

"Thank you, Lady Katana." Reuel said with a slight bow of his head.

"As for you, Koray..." Katana began with a tone of displeasure. "I ought to have you arrested! I've told you more than enough times that wandering around other worlds without my permission is illegal, and yet you still do it! It's your kind of irresponsible behaviour that starts wars!"

"Don't worry, I completely understand what you're saying and I assure you it won't happen again." Koray said, holding his hands up in front of him as a defensive gesture.

"I have absolutely no reason to believe you now." Katana said firmly. "And so-"

"Lady Katana, look there..." The man with long blond hair said with wide eyes. Katana looked where he was pointing which was in Koray's direction, but down a little more. At first she thought she was seeing things. Katana blinked a few times, but she soon realized that this kid was actually there; a little boy who looked almost exactly like Koray.

"What's the meaning of this, Koray?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Sorry, I guess with your lecturing I forgot to introduce him." Koray said with a chuckle. "This is Hiei. He's my son." As soon as Koray said that, Katana and the two men nearly jumped with surprise.

"Since when have you had a kid? Last I checked you weren't married!" Katana screamed at him.

"Judging from his age, he would have been born before you came here." The human man said, looking closely at Hiei, who was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"It would make sense for you to have had a wife before you were exiled." The long-haired demon said.

"Will you guys shut up and let me explain?" Koray said impatiently. "I've never been married. Hiei's one of the kids I had with a woman from another world."

"Oh..." They said, piecing together the situation in their heads.

"I see..." Katana said. "So that's the reason you continue to go to other worlds despite the fact that it's illegal."

"Pretty much. Sorry for not telling you about it." Koray said with a grin.

"So this is your son, Koray..." The one with long hair said. "Hiei, was it? Well, welcome to the Island of Wind. My name is Archelaus. It's nice to meet you." He said as he patted Hiei on the head. Yet again, Hiei swatted away the unwanted gesture.

"What is it with you people? I'm not a kid, so keep your hands off me!" Hiei yelled out.

Everyone stared speechless at the words that came out of Hiei's mouth. Somehow they had all expected something different...

"Don't worry; he did the same to me." Reuel explained.

"Hmph! Little boys such as yourselves should learn to keep their sharp tongues to themselves when addressing their superiors." The human man said.

"Oh? And who do you think you are?" Hiei said challengingly.

"I am Cleitenes, one of the four Generals."

"What are the four Generals?" Hiei asked.

"The four Generals," Katana answered. "Are the most powerful warriors on the Island of Wind. In fact, they're all here right now: Cleitenes, Archelaus, Reuel and Koray, your father, are the four Generals."

"I see... That would explain his power..." Kurama mumbled to himself. The others, however, heard and looked over at him.

"Who's this kid, Koray?" Archelaus asked.

"Ah, this is Kurama. One of Hiei's friends." Koray said.

"Koray..." Katana started. "He can't stay here. It's alright for Hiei because you're his father, but the red-head has to go."

"Don't worry; I'm well aware of the law." Koray said. "And there's nothing to stress about. Hiei's going back to his home in a few days. It would be easier to just let Kurama stay until then, and send them both back together. I'll take responsibility for him while he's here."

Katana hesitated, trying to find a way to make things go the way she wanted. But she knew that there would be no arguing with Koray. Finally, she said: "Fine. Just don't let anything happen to him, or we'll be liable."


	6. Chapter 6

Koray led Hiei and Kurama out of the stronghold. They walked along a path that was surrounded by grasslands, and led to a small town. The town seemed well-off. Most of the buildings were small and made of wood or stone. People filled the streets, running errands and going about their business. As soon as the three of them entered the town, many people stopped what they were doing and came to greet Koray as he walked by. Everyone referred to him as 'Lord Koray' and seemed to highly respect him. Just about everyone inquired about Hiei, and each time Koray introduced him with a smile.

"I could tell you had status when we found out that you are one of the four Generals, but this is a little more." Kurama said questioningly.

"Well, having a position as one of the Generals isn't just about military affairs; it's also having a political position." Koray explained. "We help Katana make decisions. And, really, any one of us is qualified to rule the island. The four of us are on equal footing, and the only one who has more power than us is Katana."

"I see. Like a small council of warriors." Kurama said.

"I guess that's one way to look at it." Koray replied.

"Out of curiosity," Hiei inferred "Why do you refer to Katana that way?"

"What do you mean?" Koray responded.

"I mean, you don't use any terms of respect. Reuel and the others all call her "Lady" Katana. You seem to be the only one who doesn't."

"Oh... It's a long, boring story. Basically all it amounts to is that I don't see Katana as a ruler." Koray replied cautiously.

"Perhaps that's the way you think, but it doesn't change the fact that she _is_ the ruler. Shouldn't you give her your respect regardless?" Kurama said.

"Look, it's not a subject any of the Generals enjoy talking about. In case you haven't noticed, Katana's a little young to be holding the position she does. The only reason she stepped up so soon is because the previous Lord was assassinated." Koray explained. "She's not even of royal descent. The previous Lord never had any children, so he adopted her. Believe me, if wasn't for the Generals, the Island of Wind would have already fallen to the Black Knights."

"The Black Knights… Aren't they the ones that attacked us at Genkai's temple?" Kurama asked.

"Yes." Koray answered. "This is the world where they were founded. They're a ruthless organization which has been slowly breaking down the delicate balance of power that has been maintained for thousands of years. They're getting close to throwing this world into chaos."

"This must be troublesome for you." Kurama stated grimly.

"I'd say it's a little more than that." Koray responded with a sigh. "Ah, here we are." Koray said as he approached a small house. It, like the others was made of wood. It had two stories, and surprisingly few windows. "This is where I live."

"It's nice." Kurama said. Hiei just stared.

"I'm glad you think so." Koray said.

Koray proceeded to unlock the door, open it and bring his two guests inside. They entered into a large room which has a sitting area straight ahead, which comprised of a couch and a small table. At the far side of the room they saw a dining area, which had a large dining table. To the left they saw the entrance to a kitchen, and to the right they saw a set of stairs leading to the second floor. There was also a large dresser on the wall next to the stairs.

"Not much to it is there." Hiei said.

"I never found much of a need to invest in decorations and what-not. I've got bigger things to worry about."

"Right..." Hiei muttered.

"Well I hate to leave you guys alone, but there are some things I need to take care of." Koray said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Things related to your job as a General?" Kurama asked.

"Of course." Koray responded. "Just do me one favor while you're here alone: don't answer the door to anyone."

They both looked at Koray in confusion. "Why not?" Hiei asked.

"Well, in these times it's hard to know who to trust." Koray said with a dark expression on his face. Neither Hiei nor Kurama said anything. "Well, I'll be off." Koray said as he walked out of the house, and locked the door behind him.

The two friends sat there in silence for a while. Hiei walked around, getting a better look at the house. Something about it seemed off to him, but the fire demon couldn't put his finger on it. Kurama didn't seem to notice, or at least didn't say anything. Eventually Hiei took a seat beside Kurama who had been on the couch the whole time.

"That was strange what he said about trusting people." Hiei said.

"Yes." Kurama agreed. "It's almost ironic."

"What do you mean?"

Kurama paused for a moment, and then said: "After you left to talk with your father - at Genkai's temple - Koenma shared some information with us."

"What was that?"

"You remember how Koenma called the SDF to get rid of Koray because of his crimes. Well, Koenma was unable to explain that your father is a member of the organization known as the Black Knights."

"What?" Hiei said in disbelief.

"Yes, apparently your father had been to Spirit World on numerous missions assigned to him by the Black Knights. He, along with groups of other Black Knight warriors, stole many objects and killed many guards. After watching video tapes of the incidents, Koenma determined that Koray was leading most of those attacks." Hiei said nothing. "And considering what Koray told us of the Black Knights that means we can assume he's a traitor and could be using his position as one of the Generals to aid them."

Neither of them said anything after that. Hiei, for some reason, couldn't piece everything together. There was something that stopped him from being able to believe that his father was a traitor. He felt like he was missing something crucial.

The two sat there silent for several minutes, pondering the obvious question, when suddenly they heard a knock.

"Someone's at the door..." Kurama said cautiously.

"Just ignore it." Hiei said. But the knocking didn't stop. Whoever was there was persistent, and seemed to know that someone was home. For a few minutes, though, the knocking stopped. Then it was replaced by a voice:

"Hello! Isn't anyone going to answer?" Neither of them recognized the voice. "Come on, I know someone's in there."

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Hiei shouted to the stranger outside.

"What's this? Is Koray not home?" The stranger replied curiously.

"That's right. So come back later." Kurama said.

"I'm afraid I can't do that!" The man outside yelled.

Hiei and Kurama heard a bang at the door. Considering how loud it was, they expected the door to break in, but instead they heard groans from the stranger and the sound of a body hitting the ground. They opened the door and peered outside. There was no one other than a man in a black cloak who struggled to get to his feet. Clearly he was the one who was trying to get inside.

"D-damn you all..." He said angrily. He was about to get ready to attack, but stopped himself to get a better look at the two standing in the doorway. "So, you're the runt who's supposed to be Koray's kid. You do look like him. But in terms of power you're nothing compared to what he is."

"Hmph! Who cares, it's none of your business anyways!" Hiei yelled at the stranger who just insulted him.

"Heh heh. I heard you were quite arrogant with a big mouth on you." The stranger said with a smirk. "If you think you're that great, why not come and fight me?"

Hiei smirked at his opponent's challenge. "Don't do it, Hiei!" Kurama said nervously. "It's not wise to enter in a fight here, especially since we know nothing about him!"

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about red-head." The man said. "I won't kill him. I have no reason to do so. All I want to do is put him in his place."

"Is that so?" Hiei said with a smirk. "Then I accept your challenge."

And, despite Kurama's beckoning, Hiei stepped out of his father's house to confront his new opponent.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiei stepped out of his father's house and stood on the dirt road opposite his challenger, and got a good look at the young man; he looked to be in his late twenties, was average height and wore all black. He had short white hair, blue eyes, and a few piercings on his lip. Judging from his aura, he was human.

"I hate to state the obvious, but you're a complete fool." The man said.

"Excuse me?" Hiei growled.

"You don't even realize how much you were protected from people like me. I'll wage you weren't even aware of the shield around the house."

"Shield..." So that explains the odd feeling surrounding the house... Hiei thought to himself.

"And now that you've stepped outside, it's as if you've dug our own grave." Hiei's opponent exclaimed with a laugh.

"We'll see." Hiei said, as he put his hand on his sword and drew it.

"Oh? You're planning to use that scrap metal against me? This is going to be easier than I thought." Hiei said nothing in response to his opponent's attempt to agitate him. Rather, he charged forward with full speed towards his opponent.

Oddly enough, the white-haired man didn't move. He didn't even try to defend himself, but just stood there. When Hiei got close enough, he swung his sword and made a direct hit on the man's shoulder. But something was wrong. The blade didn't cut through his body. It felt as though he was made of steel, but Hiei knew that was impossible for a human. Before Hiei had a chance to retreat, his opponent punched him hard in the ribs, sending him flying and landing hard on the ground. Hiei groaned in pain and stood up again.

"Hiei, what happened?" Kurama shouted out to his friend.

"My sword can't cut through his body..." Hiei replied.

"How's that possible? Explain yourself!" Kurama demanded of their opponent.

"What do you take me for, a fool? I've got no reason to tell you how my power works. If you can't figure it out for yourselves, then that just shows the difference in our strength." This frustrated Hiei and Kurama. "In any case, let's get back to the fun."

At that moment, the man disappeared. Hiei searched for some trace of his aura, until suddenly he appeared behind the fire demon. Hiei swung around, only to receive a heavy kick to the face which, yet again, sent him flying. But before Hiei could land, his opponent appeared in front of him and smacked him to the ground with his fist. Hiei bounced off the ground several times before his body started rolling, and then came to a stop with Hiei lying on his back. The white-haired fighter stepped up beside Hiei.

"Ready to give up, boy?" He said with a large smirk.

"Never!" Hiei said as he struggled to stand up.

"Hm... For a kid, your endurance is pretty good."

"Just shut up already." Hiei replied, more in response to the kid comment.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled out. "Just back down. You should be well aware by now that you can't win this fight."

"Don't interfere Kurama, this is my fight." Hiei shouted back.

"Ha! If you were wise, you'd listen to your friend." The man in black said to Hiei.

"Feh! This fight is far from over." Hiei replied. "If my sword can't cut you, I'll just have to try something else." Hiei then removed the bandanna covering his third eye. The Jagan opened and Hiei became surrounded by a flaming aura. "Let's see how well your body holds out against this! Fist of the Mortal Flame!"

Hiei's energy concentrated into his fist, and he once again charged his opponent. He brought his fist forward in a punch, but his opponent simply smiled and caught Hiei's flaming fist with his hand. Hiei's eyes widened with shock, and the man used his hold on Hiei's hand to throw him off to the side.

"As you can see, your pitiful flames can't even lay a single scratch on me." The man said as he held up his right hand, which was in perfect condition.

"Y-you bastard!" Hiei said. But before he could make another move, his opponent punched him to the ground. Then he stood above Hiei with his fist raised high, ready to attack. He brought it down on Hiei, putting his whole body into the blow. Hiei cried out in pain as his ribs had now been broken. Hiei tossed and turned on the ground, covering the part that hurt with his arms. Now that Hiei was in too much pain to fight back, his opponent picked him up off the ground by grabbing the front if his clothes.

"That's good. Now you're coming with me." The man said as he began to walk away.

"Not so fast! Rose Whip!" Kurama yelled as he jumped off the porch of Koray's house and swung his trademark whip. The whip wrapped around the man's neck, and Kurama got a tight grip to make sure their opponent wouldn't leave. Their opponent, however, was unamused.

"Hm... I was told not to kill the General's bastard kid... But _you _are another story." The man said as he dropped Hiei and turned around. Kurama noticed that his eyes had had become dark with an incredible bloodlust. He drew a long sword, cut the whip from his neck, and disappeared from sight again. He reappeared in front of Kurama with his sword ready to strike. But before he could land a blow, an intense gust of wind came and lifted him off the ground, throwing him across the ground. Kurama looked over for the source of the aid, and saw Reuel walking towards them.

"Hey kid, are you alright?" He asked Kurama.

"Yes, thanks for the help." Kurama replied.

"Don't mention it. Just grab Hiei and get out of the way. I'll take it from here." Reuel instructed.

"Well, well... If it isn't Genereal Reuel." The man said. But Kurama noticed that he looked a little nervous. "What do you think you can do when you can't even cut me?"

"Don't fool yourself." Reuel said calmly. "I already know that your technique has two major flaws. The fist being that it's only effective if you continuously channel your aura into your entire body, and as we all know no one has an infinite supply of energy. Secondly, even if your aura is at full power it can't stop attacks with power that exceed your own."

The man said nothing in response. Now that his weaknesses had been revealed, even the kids could find a way to beat him. He knew he had to retreat, otherwise he could be killed.

However, the man's train of thought was interrupted as Reuel appeared in front of him, ready to attack. Reuel's fist, which was surrounded by a large amount of aura, was brought forward into a punch. The man in black tried to dodge, but his left arm was still hit by the attack, and it was suddenly torn apart by the wind-like aura surrounding Reuel's fist.

"D-damn it!" He cried out, as he fell to the ground and clutched the stub that remained of his left arm.

"You better give up." Reuel said "You have no hope of winning like this."

"You're right, I can't win..." Sharivar said. "But I also can't surrender!" Then using his right arm, he took blood from his wound and scribbled something onto the ground which began glow. Suddenly his whole body became enveloped in light and began to disappear. But before he was completely gone, he turned to Hiei and said:

"I would like to say one thing before I go, boy; Even though my mission was a failure, it still served its purpose. Now our master will go to much more extreme methods when dealing with you. So consider yourself warned that the Black Knights are now after you!"

With that, the man completely vanished.


	8. Chapter 8

"How are your injuries?" Reuel asked Hiei.

"Not so great..." Hiei said with a sigh.

"Well, you better come with me. I'll get you some good treatment." Reuel said as he carefully picked up Hiei and began to walk away. Kurama followed as they walked along a dirt road through a small town. People greeted Reuel just as they did for Koray earlier. Finally they came to a small, but well-off house.

"This is where I live." Reuel said. "My wife is a doctor, so she'll be happy to care for your wounds."

"A doctor… That's convenient." Kurama said.

"You bet it is. She's also Koray's personal doctor, since that guy can never be bothered to go to a hospital of his own free will." Reuel explained as he opened the door and stepped inside.

The house was of a similar arrangement as Koray's. They came to a sitting area upon entry. The dining room was on the far end of the house. The entrance to the kitchen was on the right, along with a set of stairs that led to the second floor. Unlike Koray's home, this place was nicely decorated. It was most likely the result of a woman's touch. Reuel sat Hiei down on the couch and motioned Kurama to sit in one of the chairs.

"Feel free to make yourselves at home." Reuel said. Then he turned and called out: "Honey! I hate to be a bother, but you've got a patient out here."

Hiei and Kurama heard footsteps from the upper floor, then a female voice:

"Honestly! What would that guy do without me? Koray, you better not be hurt too badly!"

Descending from the stairs was an absolutely gorgeous woman with thick blond hair that was tied up in a bun. Her bangs were just long enough that you could see her beautiful black eyes. She wore a simple dress that ended just above her knees and carried a case that most likely contained medical equipment. Hiei and Kurama did nothing but stare as she entered the room. This angel was married to Reuel? _How'd that brawny guy pull it off?_

"Hey wait," She said as she approached them. "You're not Koray. Though you look so much like him..."

"Yeah, I've been getting that all day." Hiei said with a sigh.

"Honey, this is Hiei. He's Koray's son. And that kid over there's Kurama. Boys, this is my wife Aysuna."

Aysuna did nothing but stare in wonder. Just like most people, she was surprised to find out that Koray had a child. Hiei on the other hand was starting to hate the situation. He couldn't stand this kind of awkward attention.

Suddenly Aysuna smiled and said: "Well, it's very nice to meet you Hiei. I take it you're the one who got hurt. So tell me what kind of treatment you need."

"Um, it's just some broken ribs..." Hiei replied.

"I see. That's easy enough." Aysuna sat down beside Hiei and held her hands over the wounded area. She then began channeling her aura into Hiei's body, and right away he could tell his injury was getting better.

"That's an impressive technique." Kurama said to Aysuna. "You match your aura to that of your patient so that you can manipulate it to heal faster. You speed up the process even more by using your own aura to heal as well."

"That's right. It took a lot of practice to perfect, but it comes in handy when you've got someone like Koray to take care of."

"He gets hurt often?" Kurama asked.

"Of course he does. He doesn't feel pain, and so the poor guy doesn't even know his limits. Every time I see him I have to make sure he's not hurt somewhere." Aysuna said shrugging her shoulders.

"He's been that way ever since we met him." Reuel said.

"I see." Kurama said. Hiei just laid there in his own thoughts.

At that moment, the front door burst open and Koray walked in.

"Hey guys." He said non-chalantly.

"Speak of the devil." Aysuna said with a sigh.

"Koray, you can't just burst into someone's house! It's rude!" Reuel declared angrily.

"Come on, it's not that big a deal." Koray said. "And besides, I would think that you'd be expecting me considering the mess Hiei and Kurama got into earlier. By the way, thanks for helping them out."

"You do realize that this whole thing happened because you left them all alone?" Reuel replied impatiently. "It wouldn't have killed you to stay home for a day. I mean, you're even the one who slacks off the most, and suddenly your work is the highest priority?"

"Look, you can't entirely blame me!" Koray said innocently. "I warned them not to open the door to anyone."

"Yes, but you failed to inform us of the shield surrounding your house." Kurama inferred suddenly. "Had we known, we would not have been so reckless."

"Oh, well... Never mind then..." Koray stuttered, realizing that he had been beat.

"So what was so important that you would leave your son in harm's way?" Aysuna asked.

"I was wondering when you'd ask!" Koray replied with a smile. "I was following a lead on the Black Knights."

"A lead? You never told me about this!" Reuel exclaimed with frustration.

"Give me a break. Stuff like this is easier to handle alone." Koray said. "Anyway, as I was saying, I was able to locate a major checkpoint used by the Black Knights. It's hidden in the major city to the North, and its main purpose is to supply members who act as ordinary citizens with jobs, money, weaponry, extra services and a little fun now and then. I've heard it'd disguised as a private bar so that suspicious-looking people can walk in and out without attracting too much attention."

"You really believe that load of crap?" Reuel said with disbelief. "Who even gave you this information?"

"My source." Koray said with a smirk. "Think what you like, but it's never been wrong. In two days I'm going to crash that checkpoint and you'll be eating your words."

"What is this 'source' of yours?" Kurama asked.

Koray looked at Kurama and paused for a second. Then said, "It's none of your business."

Kurama found this interesting. An unknown source which gives Koray information on the Black Knights... Kurama knew there had to be some connection to Koenma's belief that Koray is one of the Black Knights, but he couldn't piece it together yet. It would certainly help to go with Koray to the checkpoint, but he couldn't see Koray allowing it.

Hiei was curious as well. He thought about how his father was under suspicion of being one of the Black Knights, and again something seemed wrong with the accusation. Hiei found it strange that his father would be so eager to thwart the Black Knights if he really was one of them. A few useless soldiers were understandable but not a major checkpoint... Hiei stopped himself mid-thought. He wondered why he even cared. After all, it has nothing to do with him. In a few days he would be returning home, and he wouldn't ever have to think about this again.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Koray said suddenly, disturbing everyone's thoughts. "Why don't you two come along?" He said to Hiei and Kurama.

"What?" A mix of voices exclaimed from all over the room.

"I could see from the start that these two were trouble-magnets." Koray said while Hiei glared and Kurama sighed. "This way it'll be easier to keep an eye on them."

"What the hell do you think we are, children?" Hiei yelled furiously. "We don't need chaperoning; we can take care of ourselves!"

"What Hiei means to say..." Kurama begun, in an attempt to save the opportunity. "Is that we would very much like to go, but we don't appreciate being mocked."

"Fair enough." Koray said with a smile.

"Wait, you can't just bring them along!" Reuel said to Koray. "They can't even defend themselves properly."

"Relax, we've got two days. I'll have these two shaped up in no time." Koray replied with a laid-back manner.

"What do you mean by that?" Kurama asked.

Koray smiled. "Well, we can't bring you two if you can't fight properly. Especially you, Hiei."

"Why me?" Hiei asked.

"Since you're my son, the Black Knights will most likely target you." Koray explained, though it already seemed obvious.

Hiei thought about what the Black Knight who attacked them said. The Black Knights were supposedly after him, and he wondered if that was what he meant... Or could there be more to it?

"In any case," Koray continued. "I have a special task for you, Hiei, and it's quite dangerous. So let's start your training as soon as possible."


	9. Chapter 9

Two days later, things were set into motion. It was time to storm the Black Knight's checkpoint. The day before, Hiei's father had explained the battle plan, as well as the task he requested from Hiei.

"So, are you ready Hiei?" Koray asked his son.

"Yeah, but I still don't see what's so special about this task of mine."

The task that Koray requested of Hiei was simple: He had to enter the checkpoint with his father, the both of them disguised as Black Knights. Koray would then determine who is in charge there, and kill them all quickly so as to send the low-ranking and inexperienced members into panic. While that was going on, Hiei was supposed to go behind the bar counter and burn any paperwork found there.

"Why do you want whatever's there destroyed anyway? Wouldn't it be better to have it in your possession?" Hiei asked.

"This is just the way I do things. The Black Knights gather information on many sorts of forbidden magic, and I would rather that kind of stuff not be in anyone's hands. And I can't just keep them to myself because I would rather not be associated with the Black Knights in any way other than taking them down."

"Whatever you say...." Hiei replied. "So are Kurama and the captain in position?"

"Yep. All they're waiting for is for me to take down the shield surrounding the checkpoint."

Earlier, Koray introduced Hiei and Kurama to the captain of his army. Being a General, he commands one of four armies on the Island of Wind, and each army has a captain who can act as a substitute when commanded to do so, or when the general is unavailable. Koray left Kurama in the care of his captain, since it would be senseless to bring a large group into the Black Knight's checkpoint.

"Alright, it's just about time.... Here, put this on." Koray tossed Hiei a black scarf. "Cover all your hair and your face with it."

Hiei did as instructed, and his father did the same.

"Oh, yeah. I have a gift for you that will probably help you out a lot." Koray said as he took a sword off his belt and tossed it to Hiei. "I heard your old sword broke, so I had a better one forged for you on the Island of Fire."

"Thanks...." Hiei said as he drew the blade and tested it with some simple movements. It was actually extremely high quality. He'd rarely seen such a good weapon.

"Now listen," Koray said. "We need to tell them a believable story, so I'm going to say that we're from the Island of Fire, and Lord Kyo sent us here to receive a job. You're going to be my apprentice. And while we're in there, don't speak unless spoken to. Is that clear?"

"Yeah."

"Make sure to follow my instructions. If we mess up, things will get really bad." Hiei nodded in response. "Okay, Let's go."

**********

Hiei followed his father through two villages that didn't pay the two demons any mind. Upon reaching the third town, Koray led Hiei down a dark, narrow alley. He opened a door and went inside, where they immediately came across a set of metal stairs. They descended and came into a square room that was completely empty except for one man standing on the far end of the room. He appeared to be human, had thick black hair that went to his shoulders and he was very muscular. Like all the other Black Knights Hiei encountered, he wore all black.

"What d'you two want?" He said with an intimidating tone of voice.

"We're here for a job." Koray replied.

"Hm.... Your eyes are red.... Not a common feature on the Island of Wind." The guard said, examining the two of them carefully.

"Of course, we're from the Island of Fire." Koray explained. "Lord Kyo sent us here to receive a task from the Black Knights who operate on the Island of Wind. Here is our proof." Koray then took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to the man standing in front of them.

The guard read the document, then said: "I see. Well, then the Island of Wind welcomes you." With a motion of his hand, a portion of the wall disappeared to reveal a doorway. Koray walked through and Hiei followed. The doorway became a wall again as they exited the previous room. The place they were in now seemed normal enough. Just like Koray said, it looked like a bar. There were dozens of round tables occupying the majority of the space and a large counter at the back where drinks were being made and served. The people there also seemed normal; some were drunk, some simply chatted with each other, and others were hitting on the flirty waitresses.

Koray walked over to an empty table and sat down. Hiei did the same. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, until a tall bald guy came over to them.

"Hey, newcomers. How can I help you?"

"We've come from the Island of Fire upon request from Lord Kyo to receive a job." Koray responded.

"Heh. I could figure that much on my own from your eye color to the document you gave our guard in the other room. What I meant was what kind of drink do you want?"

"Well, I guess a drink would be nice...." Koray said. "Though unfortunately I'm unfamiliar with what you serve. I'll have whatever you're having, and the kid will have something non-alcoholic.

"Alright then...." The bald man said as he left to get the drinks.

Koray said nothing in the time their host was gone, and thus Hiei was silent as well. Their host returned shortly with three drinks. He passed one to Hiei and the other to Koray, and then sat down.

"I'll bet neither of you have ever seen any place like this on the Island of Fire. So, what do you think?" The man said.

"It's rather odd to see so many different races here....But I guess that's to be expected." Koray said with a sigh. Hiei had no idea how fire demons here were supposed to act, but from what he could tell his father was doing a good job at playing his part.

"Heh heh. I guess that's to be expected from you fire demons." Their host said as he took a sip from his drink.

"Whatever." Koray said as he removed the scarf covering his face only and took a drink. Their host stopped for a moment and got a good look at Koray's face.

"Those'r some pretty nasty scars...." He said, obviously inquiring as to where they came from.

"Yes.... They're battle wounds." Koray replied calmly.

"I see, so you're a veteran." The man said. "Then this kid must be your apprentice."

"That's right." Koray said. Hiei remained silent. He didn't know what to say, anyway.

"Ah! Forgive me for being rude, my name is Hengist. What are yours?"

"What, you don't already know? It was included in the document I gave your guard. Can't the almighty Black Knights read?" Koray replied, challengingly.

"Heh.... Alright, you got me there...." Hengist said. "And as one of the Black Knights, I would also know that fire demons absolutely never come to the Island of Wind to receive jobs."

Damn it, Hiei thought to himself. He'd figured them out..... And so fast. Hiei expected his father to be nervous, but Koray just stared at Hengist intensely.

"On top of that, did you know that we are always made aware of who is coming for jobs, but two fire demons were never on the list?"

Koray continued to stare. Hiei just got more nervous.

"How long did you honestly think you could pull off this act?!" Hengist exclaimed loudly to the two of them.

Finally Koray smiled. "And how long did you expect to play the fool?" He said calmly.

But before Hengist could say anything, he had been sliced in half by a seemingly invisible force. Both pieces fell to the floor, spilling blood everywhere. Hiei had just barely caught a glimpse of his father's movement. To the untrained eye, it would have seemed that Koray never moved at all. The attack had been one fast swoop of Koray's hand, which quickly released his aura to slice the Black Knight in half.

Koray removed the scarf covering his hair and said: "This is where the fun begins."


	10. Chapter 10

"Prepare to meet your doom.... Black Knights." Koray said confidentially after getting everyone's attention with the slaughter of Hengist.

"Who the hell are you?!" Came a voice from the crowd of Black Knights.

"I am Koray, one of the four Generals."

Many voices from across the room stated out loud what the others must have been thinking:

"One of the Generals?! But how did you get in so easily?"

"How does Katana know about our systems?"

"Who cares about that crap?!" Came a loud voice from the back of a room. "If he's a General, it would certainly please our Lord if we killed him. After all, he's pretty much walked into a death trap.... Now let's get him!"

At that moment, nearly everyone in the room drew weapons and those closest charged at Koray.

"Hiei," Koray whispered. "Sneak around them and do as I instructed."

"Alright." Hiei replied as he cautiously merged with the crowd of Black Knights that was waiting for their turn to attack.

Many spears and swords were thrust in Koray's direction. He smoothly dodged every attack, then jumped up and kicked a table at a group of Black Knights who, like dominos, fell onto those behind them. More attackers came from behind, but Koray could sense their movements and dodged every blow. He then jumped onto a table, and bent down while bringing his right arm to his left hip, where his sword was holstered. In one strong movement, timed perfectly with his attackers, Koray drew his sword and cut off the tips of all the weapons coming at him in the process. His opponents stood there in shocked silence for a moment before Koray slew the ones who had just attacked him. The other Black Knights simply stared at Koray's stunning movements, and watched the blood of their comrades fall on his face in such a way that one would think it the work of a master artist.

"So, who's next?" Koray said with a faint smile on his face. The Black Knights could tell he was enjoying this, and that filled them with fear. It was also clear that he was far stronger than anyone there, and so no one responded to him at all.

Meanwhile, Hiei made it to the back of the room, unnoticed, where the bar counter was. There was no one there, and Hiei assumed that whoever had been serving drinks before had gone to fight Koray. Hiei looked around and found many glasses and bottles of alcohol beverages, but no paperwork. He looked closer and noticed that the back of the cupboard was a hidden space, and sure enough there were the documents. He considered reading some of them, but decided against it. It wouldn't do him any good to waste time like that. Hiei wasn't sure how many cupboards hid these documents, so he simply set fire to the entire bar area.

"Hey, brat! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Came a voice from behind him. Hiei spun around to see four armed men charging towards him, ready to attack. He anticipated their movements and dodged assaults from all four of them. Hiei then jumped up and kicked one of them hard in the face, using his incredible speed to catch him off guard, and the Black Knight went flying. Two more of them came forward, and swung their swords at Hiei, but he slipped past the assault, and punched one of them hard, sending him flying. It seems his father's training really improved his hand-to-hand combat.

The remaining two came at Hiei yet again. But this time Hiei drew his new sword, and in one swift movement he cut off his opponents' hands. They took a few steps back and screamed in agony. As they fell to the floor in pain, the other two Hiei knocked down got to their feet and readied themselves for another attack. But before they could do anything an older man, who seemed to be panicking, ran up to them, grabbed their arms, and started to scream:

"Leave! We must leave now, or we'll all die! Hurry, get out of here before he notices!"

His comrades questioned what he was talking about.

"It's that man! T-the one Lord Athanasius is after.... He's come back to kill us all! Hurry and get out of here!" The panicked man screamed.

Now this was interesting, Hiei thought to himself as the two confused Black Knights picked up their wounded comrades and left. The crazy man went to follow, but Hiei grabbed him, and shoved him against the wall.

"Oh, no! You.... you.... Please don't hurt me!" The man said in fear.

"Fine, I won't do a thing to you. So long as you tell me what you're so afraid of." Hiei said firmly.

The man just whimpered.

"Answer!" Hiei yelled angrily.

"It's him!" The man yelled, pointing past Hiei who turned to see who it was. The man was pointing at Koray, who was in the middle of a huge slaughter. "A fire demon.... With black hair and a scarred body.... He was always our Lord's favorite.... And he was so terrifying.... I only met him once, but you don't forget someone like him!"

"What are you saying? That he's a member of the Black Knights?!"

"I....don't know...."

"How the hell can you not know?!" Hiei yelled with fury.

"He just left!" The panicking man replied quickly. "N-no one knows what happened.... no one saw him for a long, long time. Our Lord sent men to his home to find out what was going on, b-but none of them returned! The next time anyone heard about him, he'd become a General.... I-I've never seen our Lord so angry before...."

Hiei just stared. It would seem that Koenma was right after all.... Koray was a member of the Black Knights. But the last piece of information weighed heavily on Hiei's mind. He left them. But why.... and how? Judging from what he'd heard, Hiei couldn't imagine they were the kind of organization that just let people go. They must have sent assassins after him.... but how could he hide that from the other Generals?

Hiei's thoughts were interrupted when the man he was questioning screamed at something that was behind Hiei. The fire demon turned around to see soldiers dressed in a uniform for the Island of Wind approaching them quickly.

"Good job, Master Hiei, you got one!" They said as they grabbed the frightened man and killed him. Hiei found it frustrating that his source had just been permanently erased, but at least he got some decent information.

"Hiei," Came the voice of his father. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Yeah, they didn't pay me much mind." Hiei replied.

"I should think not, considering I killed off the majority of them before taking down the shield." Koray laughed.

Hiei was mentally kicking himself. He hadn't even noticed the shield get taken down, or when his father's army arrived. At this point, he really should be more assertive....

For the next couple hours, Hiei and Kurama stood off to the side. They watched as Koray and his men cleaned up the mess of the checkpoint and searched the place carefully for anything useful. The only noteworthy things they found were a large stash of weapons and the burnt paperwork. Interestingly enough, Koray told his men that the burnt bar was just an accident and that it must have caught flame while he was fighting. Hiei didn't speak up. He didn't see any point in revealing his father's lie. Besides, he planned to confront Koray about what was told as soon as they were alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Hiei, Kurama and Koray went on their way to Koray's home, now that everything had been cleared up at the Black Knight's ex-checkpoint. It was a quiet walk. Hiei had already explained to Kurama what he learned about Koray, while they were waiting at the checkpoint. Just like Hiei, Kurama wondered how Koray managed to leave the Black Knights at all. But neither of them had an answer just yet.

"So, Hiei...." Koray begun, breaking the silence. "Who was that man you were chatting with at the back?"

Hiei froze for a moment, then realized that it was only natural that Koray would be keeping an eye on him while they were there. But was this really the best time to talk with him about this?

"Come on, answer." Koray continued. "Or will I have to start making assumptions?"

"He was just a nobody...." Hiei replied. "Who happened to mention that you were a member of the Black Knights."

Koray's expression did not change. It remained serious, emotionless, but also cautious at the same time. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Koray then pulled out a cigarette, lit it and stuck it in his mouth.

"What else did he tell you?" Koray asked.

"He also said you left...." Hiei answered.

"Then what he told you is right. At one point in my life I joined the Black Knights, but I left them and haven't made contact since." Koray waited for a reaction or response to this, but got nothing. "I see this doesn't surprise you two.... So tell me Kurama, is it fun to be Koenma's puppet?"

"Excuse me?!" Kurama said, with a mix of confusion and offense.

"Remember back at Genkai's temple, when Hiei and I wandered off alone and you followed us? Saying you were worried was a clever lie to cover up the fact that Koenma sent you to provide Hiei with what pitiful information he has on me and my short time spent as one of the Black Knights. He probably chose you because you're really the only one Hiei would trust."

Hiei glared at Kurama but said nothing.

"How long did you honestly think you could keep it a secret from us? You know we would have found out eventually." Kurama inquired, with his guard up.

"Actually, I was going to tell him straight-out. You just interrupted my plans and got to him first." Koray replied calmly, but almost amused.

"Is that so?" Kurama said with disbelief.

"Yes it is. And I'm going to provide you with the knowledge of why I joined. And why I left." Koray said. "But first, I should warn you.... No one is to hear of this from either if you. Absolutely no one! For your information, if you do happen to let it slip, I won't do anything to you. But know this: As having previously been one of the Black Knights, only I can guarantee you protection from them. If I'm arrested by Katana, they will still target you. And no one will know how to save you."

"Listen up," Hiei said suddenly. "I've got no reason to reveal you to anyone. I don't care what you did in your past. I could care even less whether or not you're a member of the Black Knights now. But if you feel you need to tell me, I'll listen. And I'll decide for myself what I want to believe."

Despite what was just said, Koray could tell that Hiei really did want to know the truth. He was just to stubborn to admit it.

"Fine, I'll tell you when we get to my place." Koray replied with a smile.

But before Koray and the two demons could move on he spotted Reuel, followed by two soldiers, approaching them.

"Hey, what's up?" Koray said as soon as they reached them.

"Katana's called us for a meeting. Let's go." Reuel said flat-out, and without much excitement.

"You caught me at a bad time. Just fill me in later." Koray said, as if it were normal to skip out on meetings.

"Sorry, that's not a valid option this time, especially since you're the topic of our meeting." Reuel replied.

"What was that?" Koray said, taken aback.

"You heard me. You've been a pain in Katana's ass ever since she became our ruler, and now she'd like to discuss it with all of us. So come on."

This was starting to piss off Koray. "Like I said, this is a really bad time!"

"Don't worry about it." Hiei said. "You can talk to us later. Just don't be stupid and get arrested."

"Hiei...." Koray stuttered.

"See, even the kid says it's alright. Now come on. These guys can escort the boys to my place where they can wait for us." Reuel said with a calmer tone.

"....Fine." Koray agreed at last.

**********

The meeting started off very tense. As Koray and Reuel entered the room where Katana, Archelaus and Cleitnese were already seated, Katana's already obvious rage seemed to rise.

"Good day, My Lady." Reuel said politely to Katana.

"Forgive me, but we're not going to waste time on small-talk today. I'd like to get straight to the point." Katana said, while forcing back her rage. "Koray, I imagine you're feeling quite proud of yourself right now, after taking out that checkpoint earlier today. Care to tell us how you knew where it was and how to get in?"

".....My source informed me." Koray said with displeasure, as he could tell where this was going.

"Yes, this isn't the first time you've relied on the information of this unknown being...." Katana said with utter distaste. "Luckily for you, the fact that the mission was a success means you will receive no punishment for your actions."

"Thank you." Koray said sincerely.

"However, your overall behavior bothers me. You're a loose cannon, and I won't have someone like that working for me." Katana said with annoyance.

"What the hell have I done?!" Koray said, getting extremely pissed off.

"Well, let's see; You neglected to inform me of, yet another, mission you decided to carry out; You wandered into another world; You brought back two foreign boys with you!" Katana screamed at Koray. "Ever since I met you, you have been a rude, judgmental, know-it-all pain in my fucking ass! And I will not let you get away with this kind of behavior anymore!"

"You know what? You're just being a jealous bitch!" Koray yelled, having snapped. "You wish you could do your job half as well as I do mine!"

Katana was about to yell something outrageous back at the fire demon, but Archelaus spoke before her:

"Koray shut the hell up and listen to us! We hate to do this to you, but after much consideration there isn't really any other option. If you continue to behave this way, we will permanently send Hiei back to his own world and you will be forbidden any contact with him."

"That's bullshit!" Koray screamed.

"Humph. Maybe if you had done as you were told from the start, you wouldn't be in this position." Cleitnese said.

Reuel had nothing to say to his friend.

**********

Hiei and Kurama walked in silence, led by the two soldiers. It's not like there was much to talk about anyway.

"So, Master Hiei, how do you like it here?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Huh....?" Hiei said, a little taken aback by the question and unusual politeness.

"Well, you come from another world. I imagine it's very different there."

"Yeah, it's different...." Hiei replied, though he didn't really care.

The two soldiers figured they should change the subject. "You know, you're lucky to have Lord Koray as your father."

"Why's that?" Hiei asked.

"Well, although he's quiet and composed, your father is a good leader. I've been told that he can be kind and forgiving, but also stern when he needs to be. Although I very much enjoy working under Lord Reuel, I wish I was in Lord Koray's army."

With that, the two soldiers slipped away into their own thoughts. Hiei and Kurama said nothing, as they too were lost within thought.

"Well..... Isn't that sweet?" Came a loud, but calm voice. It seemed like that of a young boy, and yet it sounded mature and educated. However, there was a certain tone to this voice that sent chills down everyone's spines and set off warnings in their heads.

The two demons and the soldiers searched for the source of the voice, but could not find it. Suddenly, the two soldiers with Hiei and Kurama were decapitated by an unknown force. The two boy's eyes widened at the unforeseen sight of heads falling to the ground, and flinched as blood fell on their faces and clothing.

Suddenly Hiei and Kurama felt dizzy. Their surroundings became a blur. And in an instant they could see nothing except for a big black emptiness.


	12. Chapter 12

"Koray.... what's wrong?" Reuel asked as his friend's eyes became wide, and he stood as though he was paralyzed.

"Something's not right...." Koray muttered. Suddenly, he swung around and ran out of the room, ignoring his comrades who were calling after him.

"Goddammit! Reuel, follow him!" Katana quickly commanded.

"Yes, My Lady." Reuel said as he, too, ran out of the room.

**********

"Where are we....?" Hiei asked out loud to no one in particular, while looking around. Him and Kurama were surrounded by a huge black space. All they could see was each other.

"I have no idea," Kurama responded. "Someone must have created this space, and I'm willing to bet it was the owner of the voice we heard."

"If that's the case, then he must be very powerful...." Hiei stated grimly.

"Heh heh. Well, I guess you two aren't complete fools." Came the same cold voice they had heard earlier.

Suddenly, a small being appeared out of the darkness. He was fairly short - about as tall as Hiei - and wore an oversized cloak that covered every part of his body, except for his head. His hair extended to his shoulders, and was a dark gray. Through his long bangs one could see his cold red eyes, which almost glowed.

"Who the hell are you?!" Hiei demanded.

"My name is Athanasios. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Hiei."

"Wait.... that name...." Hiei muttered, trying to remember where he'd heard it.

"Yes, that man was quite a fool. He dared to speak my name in the pressence of a General, and revealed confidential information. Had he not been killed during the raid, I would have tortured him to death myself."

Then Hiei remembered. It was the crazy man from the checkpoint, who had provided him with information on Koray.

"So what do you want with us?" Kurama asked.

"Heh heh heh. Usually I don't tell my prey this kind of stuff, but for you two I will provide a hint; Koray did me a great inconvenience earlier today, and now I'm going to the favor." Athanasios said with great amusement.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Hiei yelled.

"You're going to use us to get to Koray...." Kurama said with displeasure.

"That's right."

"I see.... Then answer this: What exactly is your grudge against Koray?" Kurama asked firmly.

"Ah ha ha! It seems you don't know exactly who I am." Athanasios laughed. "In order to give you a clearer understanding of my relationship with Koray, I will tell you this: I am the leader, and founder of the Black Knights Organization."

Hiei and Kurama stared speechless. Of course, they weren't too surprised that the leader of the Black Knights decided to approach them, considering all that's happened. But Athanasios didn't look like the kind of person who would lead a well-know criminal organization.... But there was something about him that struck fear in the two demons.

"Well, in any case...." Athanasios began. "Hiei, you should know that I've been looking forward to meeting you. After all, when I first met your father he was completely obsessed with finding you and your mother. I imagine he would be devastated if he were to loose you too me."

"What are you talking about?" Hiei asked with curiosity.

"Many great opportunities await you, Hiei. That is, if you are able to become strong." Athanasios explained. "I have high expectations for you, and considering the improvement you've already made I trust you'll fulfill my hopes."

"Bastard! You can't just toy with me like that!" Hiei screamed.

"Ah, but I can. And I will." Athanasios said with a smile.

Then the leader of the Black Knights lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. In an instant, he disappeared. Then suddenly, Hiei and Kurama felt as though they were falling. They saw a light up ahead and kept falling towards it, until suddenly it consumed them, and their faces crashed into the ground. After laying there for a moment to collect themselves, Hiei and Kurama stood up . They had fallen into a forest. Athanasios was nowhere to be found. All around them were were bushes and trees that were much larger than anything they had seen, even in Demon World. Grass and dirt covered the ground upon which they had fallen, and overall this place seemed to give off an eerie feeling.

"The air here is nice." Hiei said more to himself than to his companion.

"Speak for yourself.... To me it's almost suffocating." Kurama said, breathing harder than usual.

"Well, that aside, where are we now?" Hiei asked, but got no response.

Just then, a group of soldiers wearing unfamiliar armor approached them. All of them had light brown hair with a hint of red, and their eyes were the color of blood.

"Who are you, and what are you doing on our territory?!" One of them said, while the others seemed to be eying Hiei and Kurama with disgust.

"Well.... I'm Kurama, and this is Hiei. You see, we're lost.... would you please tell us where we are?"

"You're lost? What a load of crap! No one ever comes to the Island of Fire without an especially good reason. Now secure them! Lord Kyo can decide what to do with these trespassers."

Four soldiers came forward, and each took hold of one of Hiei or Kurama's arms firmly. The other guards drew their weapons and stayed on guard in case their captives tried to escape. However, one man seemed to be eying Hiei with great curiosity and familiarity. He spoke to his comrades:

"That black-haired boy.... He seems familiar...."

"Yeah, how so?"

"Think back to when we were in school.... And when we were training to be soldiers.... There used to be a runt boy with black hair...."

"You mean that guy who was jailed and killed for treason?"

"Yes, that's the one! Doesn't this boy look exactly like him?"

"Now that I think about it.... You're right! Heh heh. Lord Kyo will definitely be interested in this."

"W-what are you guys talking about....?" Hiei asked, getting a bad feeling about where this was going.

"You'll find out soon enough, boy."

Suddenly, a giant plant burst from the ground and consumed the two guards that were holding Kurama. Everyone gasped in surprise. The soldiers holding Hiei tightened their grip on him, and quickly moved away from Kurama's creation.

"Damn you, brat!" One of the soldiers said as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, the plant caught fire and began to burn. Kurama jumped back to avoid getting burned himself. He noticed more soldiers coming towards him with their weapons drawn, and decided to make a run for it.

"Forgive me, Hiei. I promise I'll send help as soon as I can!" Kurana yelled as he disappeared into the forest.

"Don't bother chasing him. The black-haired kid is all we want."

So the other soldiers rejoined the group and they all began to walk. Hiei ha no idea where he was being taken. He had no idea what they planned to do to him. Kurama said he would bring help.... Help from where? He didn't even know how to get back to the Island of Wind. Hiei's thoughts were interrupted when they reached a large stone wall with a massive gate, that was being patrolled by many soldiers.

Hiei got a really bad feeling.... He did not like where this was going.


	13. Chapter 13

"What is this place?" Hiei asked, staring at the large wall in front of them.

"This is the village on the Island of Fire where all fire demons live." One of the guards explained. "Now let's go."

The men proceeded to open the gates, and take Hiei inside. Once there, the soldiers bound Hiei's hands behind his back with heavy shackles. Many villagers who all had the same red eyes and hair color gathered to see who the guards brought back. Many of their faces displayed great shock and wonder, and they murmured things to each other that Hiei couldn't hear.

"What's going on here?" Came a voice which held great authority. Everyone became silent. A young man came forward wearing well-off clothes. Just like all the other fire demons his eyes were red, and his hair was the same color.

"Lord Kyo, we found this boy wandering around the forest, and once we recognized him we brought him here for you." One of the guards said.

Kyo took one look at Hiei and froze with his eyes wide, and mouth gaping.

Then his expression changed to anger. "Boy.... You're Koray's son aren't you?"

"What if I am?" Hiei replied.

Again, the villagers' faces became filled with surprise, and they began to murmur things to each other. Kyo, however, didn't respond at all. He simply stared at Hiei, and for a moment the two remained locked in eye contact.

Finally Kyo said: "You're just like him.... Especially those eyes.... Looking at everyone like they're inferior...."

"That's because you _are_ inferior." Hiei said with a smirk. But all Hiei got for his arrogance was a hard punch to the face which sent him crashing to the ground. Hiei struggled to get back on his feet, since his hands were bound, and even once he did, his cheek still stung incredibly.

"Feh! I hope that's not the best you can do, otherwise this isn't going to be any fun at all." Hiei said, smirking yet again.

"Hold your tongue, brat, or else you might loose it!" Kyo screamed with great anger.

"My Lord," One of the soldiers said. "It seems the boy isn't fully aware of the situation he's in. Perhaps you should.... enlighten him."

"Yes. You're absolutely right." Kyo replied. "Come with me, boy. The rest of you stay here."

Kyo grabbed Hiei by the arm and pretty much dragged him away. They walked down a stone path through an unoccupied area of the fire demons' territory, where you could see both sides of the wall that surrounded it. Very soon, they came to a large gate that was very similar to the front gate and was being guarded by two soldiers.

"Open the gate." Kyo ordered.

The two men complied to their Lord's order. As soon as the doors opened, Hiei was overwhelmed with a familiar, and yet utterly disgusting scent. He smelt blood, not freshly spilt as he enjoyed, but old blood that must have been there for years. But that wasn't what stood out the most. The scent which made Hiei sick was that of the rotting flesh. He had killed many before - human and demon - and come across corpses before, but never in his entire life had he encountered such a strong odor. It seemed as though there were hundreds of thousands of corpses lying there, rotten and decaying. He would have covered his mouth and nose, were his hands not bound.

Kyo continued inside, pulling Hiei along. The further they went in, the worse the stench got. Hiei looked around and saw nothing except many small stone huts. The huts looked as though they could hold about three or four people, and it seemed as though they were prison cells. Hiei could also hear a mix of moans, screams and voices muttering. It sounded like the living dead. He then noticed piles of something along the walls which surrounded even this part of the fire demons' territory. As he looked closer he realized that it was piles of bodies. The bottom of the entire wall on both sides was lined with bloody, rotten corpses that were swarmed with flies and other bugs. Seeing this made Hiei feel like vomiting.

"Disgusting, isn't it." Kyo finally said. "This is where we put the scum of this world.... Humans…. And anyone who belongs with them."

Hiei didn't respond. It's not like he particularly cared for humans either.

"This is where we put your father...." The fire Lord continued. "After we found out that he and that whore conceived you...." Kyo smiled slightly, though his expression seemed more like sadness than anything else. "Everyone always knew that this was where he belonged...."

"You bastard....!" Hiei said between his gritted teeth.

"That's right boy, your father was nothing but scum! And if that's the case, what do you think that says about you, a half-breed?! You're lower than scum.... and your blood is cursed. You deserve a fate worse than death!"

"Shut the hell up!" Hiei screamed.

Kyo ignored Hiei, and led him further into the prison camp. The atmosphere reeked of death and suffering, and it was nearly enough to make Hiei dizzy. In truth, Hiei was a little scared of what these people could do to him here, and that made him very uncomfortable. Hiei was never scared. Not even when he endured the torturous pain of having the jagan eye implanted into his forehead.

"You should know, boy.... that I don't ever plan to let you leave this place." Hiei said nothing in response. "Your silence astonishes me. Aren't you going to beg for your freedom? Or perhaps your life?"

"Begging is for the weak and cowardly, and I'm neither." Hiei stated firmly.

Kyo let out a laugh. "Its amazing how much you're like him.... Though you may not be feeling so sure of yourself once we're through with you. Everyone begs sooner or later. Even your father. He begged us to give him a swift death!"

Hiei gritted his teeth. It was obvious that Kyo was just trying to intimidate him.

After a few more minutes of walking, they reached an open area. The walls curved much further on, and enclosed the entire place. Along the wall, there were many small sheds that were spread out, and Hiei could only guess what they contained. The ground was bared, and stained with blood. Around the area, there were many wooden contraptions, but Hiei didn't know what they were. Not too far away stood about five soldiers who seemed to be on a break, or something. As soon as they noticed Kyo and Hiei, they stiffened up and greeted their Lord.

"Lord Kyo, it is a pleasure as always to see you here."

"Men, it seems we have a newcomer. I'm sure you won't mind giving him a small taste of what life here will be like." Kyo said to his soldiers as he tossed Hiei to them.

"Of course, we'll take care of him." One soldier said with a grin. "Though you don't too often bring children here personally.... Is this boy important?"

"Yes, he is. You all remember Koray, don't you...." All the men smirked as they recollected their previous prisoner. "This is his bastard son, born from an Ice Maiden in another world."

All the men burst out in laughter. "You don't say! Then we'll have to give him the treatment he deserves!"

Hiei growled at them. Then Kyo held up a small vial with dark red liquid inside. "Do you know what this is, boy?" Hiei didn't answer. "It's a special kind of drug. Illegal on all the other Islands. They call it the Reaper's Wine, because on sip is fatal to humans. Of course it won't kill a demon, but it's highly addictive. And it makes you more susceptible to pain."

Hiei gritted his teeth, but then one of the soldiers grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back in order to open his mouth. Kyo opened the vial and poured the drug down Hiei's throat. Hiei felt a burning sensation from the liquid, and although he didn't want to, he actually enjoyed it. In fact, he didn't want it to stop. And when it did he resisted the urge to ask for more.

Instead, he muttered: "Damn you all…." Realizing that they had achieved what they wanted.

Kyo smiled triumphantly. Then one of the soldiers walked off towards the nearest shed, and went inside. Meanwhile, another soldier took out a sword and slashed the back of Hiei's knees. It hurt like hell, and he then he fell to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?" Hiei groaned.

"Hmph!" One of the soldiers replied. "We cut the two tendons in the back of your knees so that you can't try and escape. In fact, you probably won't even be able to walk properly for a few weeks!"

The soldiers then pulled Hiei to his feet and removed his shackles, and took off his shirt. Hiei was then walked to a large wooden contraption. It was two large posts that stood vertically, and another which sat horizontally across the top of the other two. Two long ropes were hanging off the top of the contraption and, for each, one end simple hung there while the other was secured to the ground. The soldiers tied the loose ends to Hiei's wrists, then walked over the other end of the ropes, and pulled on them. Hiei was lifted a little off the ground. The soldiers adjusted Hiei's position to their liking, and once again secured the ropes. They had made it so that Hiei was being lifted nearly off the ground by his arms, but his feet could still reach the ground in order to keep him somewhat steady.

The soldier that had left returned and stood behind Hiei. "Brace yourself, boy." He said with an amused and excited tone.

Hiei felt a strong, painful slash to his back, and screamed out in pain. He felt many more slashes, and much against his will, he let out a cry each time. As the soldier continued to whip him, Hiei could feel the whip tearing through his skin against his bare back. Hiei felt the first blows he received start to burn, and it caused him tremendous pain. But it also angered him, as he knew that the intense pain was mainly caused by that drug. Hiei hated being vulnerable. His entire back became filled with a burning sensation, and he couldn't help but cry out some more. But then he realized they had finally stopped.

The soldier inflicting the wounds was now standing in front of Hiei with a twisted look on his face. Hiei was now breathing very heavily. The soldier lifted Hiei's chin, so that their eyes made contact.

"I like watching our victims on their first day here...." He said. "It's usually their first time experiencing pain of this sort, and so their screams are the most enjoyable.... I can tell that you've been through a lot in your short life, but I assure you, you have never felt the likes of which we're going to do to you here! Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Fuck off! You assholes don't intimidate me at all!" Hiei managed to screamed, with a fearless look in his eyes.

In a swift and sudden movement, the soldier pulled down Hiei pants and very tightly gripped his penis. Hiei cried out in pain, not mention embarrassment.

"Careful what you say, boy...." The soldier said with a dark, bloodthirsty look in his eyes. "I'll cut off your fucking balls and feed them to you!"

All Hiei's confidence left him suddenly. He had no idea what do say or do. After all, he'd never been threatened or touched in this manner....

"That's enough." Kyo said. "I need some rest, we'll continue tomorrow."

"Yes, my Lord."

And with that, Kyo turned and walked away. The soldiers released Hiei from his binding, and he fell to the ground, yet again. Hiei noticed that his wrists were bleeding where the rope was secured. The soldiers grabbed Hiei, and pulled him to his feet, a gesture which made his back, not to mention his legs, hurt. They allowed him to put his pants back on, and when he was done they took him to one of the stone huts. They roughly shoved him inside, and locked the door as they closed it. Inside, it stunk of urine and other bodily waste, and it was completely pitch black, except for an extremely tiny window to Hiei's right.

Shit.... was the only comment Hiei had about his situation.


	14. Chapter 14

"**....Up.... Wa....Up.... "** Hiei heard a voice say. **"WAKE UP!"**

Hiei's eyes shot open as he entered into consciousness, and immediately he received a hard kick to the ribs. Hiei groaned as he felt the pain of the assault.

"Jeez, it's about time you woke up, brat!" The soldier who kicked Hiei said.

Hiei didn't reply. He was too worn out to care. It's been two days since he was brought to this place on the Island of Fire, and in that time he's had minimal sleep, received many different kinds of physical torture and been utterly ridiculed in front of the demon villagers in ways he'll never admit to. Not to mention he was really craving that drug....

The soldier who woke him up pulled Hiei out of the stone hut where he'd been sleeping and took him over to where Kyo and a few other soldiers stood.

"You look pathetic, boy." Kyo said as they approached. "I wish you could see yourself; Huge bags under your eyes, cuts and bruises everywhere, the absence of color in your skin, your ratty, torn clothes.... And, on top of that, you stink like a rotting corpse."

Hiei just glared and tried to put on a tough act. He knew he needed to get out of here somehow.... And it didn't seem too heavily guarded around the prisoners' area.... Maybe he could actually make a run for it.... If it weren't for the fact that his legs hadn't healed yet. And besides that he still couldn't seem to get his mind off that drug....

"Hmph. I guess we can't really expect you to be too enthusiastic.... After all, these past couple of days have been rather tough on you. But I think I know what will liven you up a bit...." Kyo said as he held up a small vial that contained the blood red coloured drug. "So, how badly do you want it this time?"

Hiei knew this was bad. The last time Kyo had brought the drug to him, the mere scent of it made Hiei want it so much that he lost control of himself and practically begged for it. However, this time Hiei put all his willpower into holding himself back. Though, the desire still caused him to tremble, and it was clear on his facial expression that he really wanted the small amount of liquid that was in that vial.

Kyo smiled as he looked at the expression on Hiei's face. The boy showed an intense desire, but also a great fear. It was clear he was afraid of making a fool of himself.... Afraid of being vulnerable. And it was also clear that he would fight as much as he could to avoid those things.

Kyo then proceeded to open the vial, and then poured it onto the ground and onto his shoe. Without even thinking, Hiei had brought himself to the ground and was licking up as much of the drug as possible. He knew in his head that he really didn't want to be doing this, but he couldn't control his body. Between dirt, he could taste the drug as it burned down his throat and it made him want more. He felt like no amount would be able to satisfy him. Even when he was licking Kyo's shoe and felt the sheer humiliation of such an act, all he wanted was the drug.

The soldiers laughed hysterically at what the stubborn, arrogant boy had been reduced to. The embarrassment struck Hiei like a thousand blades. He couldn't stand for this kind of treatment. When there was no more of the drug, Hiei looked up at Kyo's face. The fire lord was smiling as he looked down on Hiei with superiority and enjoyment. Hiei's embarrassment quickly turned to pure rage. Using all the force he could muster, Hiei launched himself upward and hit Kyo with a punch to the face.

Kyo was sent many feet off the ground before he landed, rolling in the dirt quite a ways away. A few soldiers quickly grabbed Hiei and held him tightly, while others rushed over to their lord.

"My Lord, are you alright?" They said over and over again.

"I'm fine." Kyo insisted, as he got to his feet and brushed the dirt off of himself. Kyo looked over at the boy who dared to assault his captor. Hiei's eyes were filled with hatred as he glared back at the lord.

"My Lord, the boy must pay for this!"

"That's right! How shall we go about punishing him?"

"You men will do nothing. I'll take care of the boy myself." Kyo replied.

"But, my Lord -"

"Don't question my orders! Now leave!" Kyo yelled. The soldiers flinched with fear at their lord's outburst, but the left him alone with Hiei.

"What was that all about?" Hiei said with a forced calm.

"Nothing, really." Kyo responded. "I sometimes just can't stand those lowlifes."

Hiei smirked at that comment. "Well, what are you going to do to me this time?" He demanded.

Kyo paused for a moment, as he looked at Hiei then smiled. "I'd like to say that I'm going put you through more pain than you can ever imagine.... But in all honesty I really don't want to do that to you." A puzzled look crossed Hiei's face. "You're like your father was when I knew him. You're exactly the way he should have stayed.... Stubborn, defiant, and never letting anyone get the better of him."

Hiei sighed with frustration. This was why he couldn't care much for family. He hated having to live up to them. He hated having to bear their burdens. But most of all, he hated being constantly compared to them.

"That was how your father was supposed to be...." Kyo continued. "But he wasn't. When we brought him back from that icy world he was changed.... Broken." Hiei stared as he took in Kyo's words. "There was no longer any life in his eyes. No desire to live. It was as if his soul was frozen in a state of emptiness.... He was pathetic. I couldn't stand to see him like that. It angered me. I couldn't believe that he would give up his freedom - or even his life - for the sake of a worthless woman! I wanted him to fight back.... And become angry.... I wanted him the way he used to be! I kept him alive longer than I would any other prisoner, hoping that he would once again become himself.... But he did nothing. Absolutely nothing! He endured everything we did to him, as if it didn't even matter! And those eyes...." Kyo paused for a moment to calm himself down. "But not you.... You're the way your father should be...."

"Will you shut up, already?" Hiei said with an angered look on his face. "Ever since I got here, all you talk about is my father. But I'm not him, and I don't care who he was or what happened to him. It's all meaningless to me."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kyo said, almost sarcastically, with an amused look on his face.

That made Hiei angry. He surrounded his fist with fire, and launched himself at Kyo. The fire lord, however, caught Hiei's flaming fist with his bare hand and kicked the black-haired demon hard so that he flew quite a ways away, and hit the ground hard.

"Your injuries don't seem to bother you too much. Perhaps you've already had experiences with extreme pain?" Kyo said, still showing off an amused smile. "You may deny that you're like your father, but the fact is that you are. Even the way you're always yearning for a fight...." Hiei clumsily got to his feet while Kyo spoke. That drug must still be taking effect, since that kick hurt more than it should have. "Though.... If it's a fight you want, I'll gladly give it to you. But I'm feeling we should put more at stake. How about this: If you can, by some miracle, win, I'll let you go free. But if I win, you'll become my personal slave."

Hiei didn't respond. He needed to think through his chances. He was already badly wounded, and the problem with his legs would hold him back considerably.... Not to mention that he could tell Kyo was a well trained fighter.

"Of course, you could always decline the offer, and stay here for the rest of your life." Kyo added.

That settled it. Even if his chances were nearly impossible, it was still his only chance. "Fine. I accept your challenge."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note:**

**Hey, guys. I'm the author of this story (obviously). I've been feeling pretty uneasy about where Amber Moon is going. I've been writing, but I havn't been getting any reviews for the past couple chapters. Do you guys not like this part of the story? I was going to get into something about Koray's past, but its taking a while to get there... If you don't want to see it, just let me know and i'll skip it... I don't mind, honest! I just want you guys to enjoy my story. **

**So if there's anyone out there reading my story.... Anyone.... Please let me know what you're thinking. Even of its bad, I'd rather have nasty reviews than no reviews.... **

**So review.... Please.... Just do TT_TT**

* * *

This was it. Finally, he had a chance at freedom.

As Hiei readied himself for the fight, he kept his eyes on Kyo who was also preparing himself for battle. The fire lord had a wide smile on his face, and his eyes were filled with anticipation. Hiei wasn't sure what Kyo was so anxious about, but simply assumed he was looking forward to further humiliating him.

"Ready, boy?"

"Lets go!" Hiei replied as he charged forward, fists raised. He nearly stumbled at first, as his legs were hurting intensely, but he ignored the pain and attacked Kyo. Hiei ferociously threw many punches and kicks at the lord, but he dodged every assault. And rather than fighting back, Kyo was studying Hiei's fighting style.

"You seem to be having some trouble...." Kyo said with an amused tone. "Perhaps your injuries are weighing you down.... Or perhaps it's just that hand-to-hand isn't your forte. Would you like a weapon? I don't mind lending you one."

"Just shut up! For your information, I don't need any help!" Hiei yelled as he raised his hands above his head. Into his hands appeared a flame, colored with a mix of blue-green and black that took the form of a sword.

Kyo's eyes widened, and his smile disappeared as Hiei moved to bring the sword down onto him. Kyo jumped back, but the tip of Hiei's flame sword brushed the fire lord's cheek, leaving a cut. Kyo touched the wound with a look of wonder on his face. "A flame.... That can harm fire demons.... Who taught you this?"

"No one. I learned by myself." Hiei replied.

"Incredible.... That sort of power is practically unattainable...." Kyo muttered more to himself than to Hiei. He realized that this boy was stronger than he thought.

Hiei smirked. "What's this? Are you giving up?"

"Not likely." Kyo said, smirking as well.

Hiei launched himself into attack once again, slashing and thrusting his sword at the fire lord. Kyo, however, continued to dodge. Not a single strike hit him, though Hiei's attacks were leaving marks on his clothing, which showed that he was getting better. After a while of dodging, Kyo managed to get under one of Hiei's attacks and kicked up, sending the young fire demon flying.

"It's a pity things worked out the way they did. For a child, you're quite a good fighter." Kyo said.

"You bastard...." Hiei muttered as he clumsily got to his feet. "Now you die!"

Hiei held out his right arm, and it slowly became surrounded by a black flame. It spread to surround the fire demon's entire body. Although he was producing enough aura, Hiei's body was screaming out in pain. He knew he really didn't have the strength to summon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and that it would probably kill him. But he figured dying of his own accord was better than losing this fight.

Kyo stared in amazement. He found it hard to believe that a small boy could produce such a large amount of aura. But he knew it could easily kill him, as he'd seen this kind of power once before. So Kyo proceeded to focus his aura and create a shield around himself.

Hiei saw what he was doing and smirked. "Don't get your hopes up. A pathetic shield like that won't last against the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

"We'll see...." Kyo said, though h didn't know what he was going to do.

"Yes, we will...." Hiei said as he held his hands out in front of him. "Dragon.... Of the Darkness Flame!"

The aura that had been surrounding Hiei quickly took the form of a dragon and launched forward towards Kyo. As the black flames collided with the shield, Kyo felt an intense and almost unbearable pressure, but he still managed to keep his shield going. Though he knew it wouldn't last long.

Hiei, on the other hand, felt strange. Summoning the dragon seemed.... Easy. Usually he has to use all his strength just to bring it out. But this time it was if the dragon _wanted_ to come out. Then, suddenly, he could feel it eating away at his energy. The dragon was trying to bring out every last bit of Hiei's aura. He had to use all his strength to prevent it from consuming him. And then he heard a voice:

**"What's the matter? Feeling overwhelmed?"**

"What.... The hell's going on?!" Hiei replied while trying to stay focused. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, though it seemed familiar.

"**You shouldn't try to resist. Just let it take you over."**

"Leave me alone!"

"**Ahaha! You're funny."**

"Stop it! Just make all of this stop!" Hiei yelled in desperation. He could tell he was about to lose himself.

"**Why should I?"**

Hiei slammed his eyes shut. "STOP!"

Just then, Hiei felt something grab his right arm. And suddenly, the dragon's power was no longer consuming his aura. Hiei could feel the dragon being redirected to something, or someone, else. He opened his eyes to see what was going on. Standing in front of him, holding onto his arm, and absorbing the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, was a tall man with black hair and all-black clothing.

Koray. His father.


	16. Chapter 16

Hiei stared, amazed at how Koray stopped the actions of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and completely absorbed all its power into himself. As soon as the dragon was completely gone, Koray let go of Hiei's arm. Hiei fell to the ground, realizing how much pain he was in from exerting himself.

Koray bent down to help Hiei, but he pushed his father away. "Don't touch me, you bastard!" Koray was taken aback by Hiei's outburst. "You've got some explaining to do!"

"Hiei -" Koray begun, but was cut off by a voice that Hiei found familiar.

"Now, now. There's no need to be in any rush, Hiei. The truth about your father's past will be revealed soon enough. But for now, he has a promise to fulfil." Surprised, Hiei turned around to see the small, grey-haired man that had sent him to the Island of Fire in the first place. Athanasios.

"Wait... What are you doing here?" Hiei asked.

"Ah, well your father needed a fast way to get to you. So I volunteered to bring him here, since I possess exceptional teleportation abilities." Athanasios replied with a grin.

"I don't get it. Why would he need to rely on you? I thought he wasn't a part of your organization anymore." Hiei questioned.

"Hiei, it's complicated..." Koray said. "I'll tell you when we're finished with things here."

Hiei went to protest, but he couldn't help but notice another person approaching them.

"Koray.... Is that you?" Kyo said as limped, due to damage from the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. "I... I thought you were dead!"

"Ah, forgive me, Kyo. It seems I've lied to you." Athanasios said to the fire lord.

"Lord Athanasios?! What are you.... I don't understand...." Kyo stuttered with great surprise.

"Well, I suppose I owe you the truth since I'm about to end our affiliation. When you asked me to find out what had happened to Koray after your men had abandoned him on the Island of Wind, I told you he was indeed dead, and that the Island of Wind had taken care to dispose of the remains. The truth is that one of the soldiers of the Island of Wind decided to take Koray to a hospital, where, after much trouble, they were able to save his life. Since then, he's been living on the Island of Wind." Athanasios explained.

Kyo's eyes flared with anger. "What?! Why did you lie to me?"

"There was no reason for you to know the truth. Koray would never return to you people." Athanasios replied. "And besides that, since Koray worked for me, I wouldn't want to trouble him by giving you information that would lead you to bother him."

"You son of a bitch... How dare you betray me like that! How dare you go against my family!" Kyo said through gritted teeth.

"What the hell's going on here....?" Hiei said more to himself than those around him.

"Kyo's family has been lending Athanasios assistance for a few generations." Koray explained. "Though, Athanasios was only using them to keep his hold on the Island of Fire."

"What do you mean 'keep his hold'?" Hiei asked.

"You see, in the center of the large forest of the Island of Fire, surrounded by an extremely powerful barrier, is the main base of the Black Knights Organization."

"What?!" Hiei exclaimed.

"Yes.... And because of the barrier, none of the other Islands were able to find out about the fire lord's affiliation with me. In fact, the citizens of the Island of Fire aren't even aware that I have anything to do with their lord." Athanasios explained. "However, I grow tired of Kyo and his people. They're nothing but a nuisance."

"What are you saying? What's wrong with me and my people?! Explain yourself!" Kyo demanded.

"If you still don't understand, then Koray will show you." Athanasios said as he looked over at Hiei's father.

For a moment, Koray just stood there. He closed his eyes, and took a large intake of breath. Then he disappeared. Within a second, Kyo let out a cry of pain as he was sliced apart by Koray's now-drawn sword.

Athanasios smiled widely with satisfaction. Hiei just stared, still a bit unsure of what was going on. He was lead to believe that Koray no longer worked with the Black Knights, and yet here it seemed as though he was obeying Athanasios' orders.

"Koray. Just a reminder; I don't want a single one of them left alive. Not even -"

"I know. You don't have to tell me." Koray said with an angry tone.

He then proceeded to sheath his sword, and held out his hand. Black flames gathered there, and then shot out, consuming the entire prison area. The flames reduced the entire area to ashes. There was no trace of any of the guards, prisoners, or stone huts. Nothing left but ashes.

Koray then ran off in the direction of the village where the fire demons resided.

"Incredible, isn't it, that a place the size of a large city could be destroyed so easily by one man. Perhaps now you see why I'm so interested in him - and you, for that matter. Even in this world, it would take the entire strength of an above average warrior to pull off such simplistic destruction. And yet your father does it as if it's nothing." Athanasios almost seemed to be talking to himself as he stared out in the direction of the village where explosions could be seen, and faint screams could be heard.

"Hey.... Why's he obeying your commands? I thought he wasn't with you guys anymore." Hiei demanded.

Athanasios laughed. "Why... He's doing it for your sake."

"What?"

"I see you still haven't quite pieced together the situation you were in before we arrived. You see, if I was the one pulling Kyo's strings, then that means one false move by Koray and you'd be the one to suffer. And I mean in ways worse than what the fire lord was doing to you." Athanasios explained. "So I told Koray that if he would completely obliterate the fire demons for me, I'd have you returned safely to him."

"But why send me here when you already had me in a vulnerable state before?" Hiei asked.

"That's because you weren't of any interest to me this time." Athanasios replied. Hiei looked at him with a puzzled expression. "As I already explained, I grew weary of the fire demons. My only goals here were to get rid of them, and to send a warning to your father."

"A warning about what?"

"You see, I didn't really appreciate the way he abruptly left me. And to be honest, no one in the Black Knights, other than me, has the power to stand up to him, so I let him get away with his betrayal for the time being. But the time has come that he returns. He's been nothing but a thorn in my side these past years, so I've come to the decision that he either rejoins, or I will personally see to his death."

Hiei smirked. "I see now. And you're going to use me to get to him."

"Well, you _are_ his greatest weakness after all." Athanasios said as he smirked as well.

"Hey..." Koray said he approached Hiei and Athanasios. He was covered in blood, and his eyes were completely emotionless. "The job is done. Now we're leaving."

"Of course." Athanasios said with a grin. "And don't worry. As promised, I won't get in your way for now." And then, Athanasios disappeared.

For a while Hiei and Koray stood where they were in silence. Hiei was thinking about what he had just been told, and he was trying to decide what he should question Koray about first. Koray was thinking about he should say to Hiei. He knew he had a lot of explaining to do, and he knew that Hiei was probably really upset about getting dragged into this situation. He had to choose his words carefully.

"We should get going." Koray finally said.

Hiei nodded. "You're going to explain on the way, right?"

"Yeah."

The two fire demons started to walk towards the nearest way out of the village. As they were exiting the village and coming to the large forest, they saw a group of figures running up to them.

Koray's expression then turned to anger. "Damn. Why do they show up now?"

In a moment, Hiei finally recognized the group people. It was Reuel, Cleitnese, and Archelaus followed by Kurama.

"Koray!" Reuel called out. "I figured you'd have come here."

"Is that so?" Koray said in a tone that implied he didn't want to talk.

"Yeah." Reuel continued. "Not long after you disappeared, Kurama showed up and explained to us that Hiei had been captured by the fire demons. So I figured you rushed over to save him, and we decided to come and lend a hand."

"Hiei, are you alright?" Kurama asked as he approached his friend, who still had many wounds to show from the last couple days.

"I'm fine." Hiei replied.

"Koray! What the hell did you do to this place?!" Archelaus demanded as he gazed upon the destroyed village of the fire demons.

"It looks like a massacre...." Cleitnese stated.

Koray hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I gave them exactly what they deserve."

"What was that?!" The three Generals exclaimed in unison.

"First they screw up my life, then they kidnap Hiei.... What did you think I was going to do?" Koray said, while turned away from his companions.

"That's funny...." Reuel said with a displeased tone. "You always said that revenge wasn't important to you."

"Forget that! Do you even realize what you've done?!" Archelaus exclaimed.

"Look.... I'm not going to try to hide what I've done here.... But right now I need to talk to Hiei. You guys make a portal and go back to the Island of Wind. We'll be there shortly."

The Generals hesitated for a moment, but finally conceded. They took Kurama and left, leaving Koray and Hiei alone to talk.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys, its me, Teresa again. I'm still a bit disappointed with the lack of reviews, but I guess not much worthy of reviwing has been going on. I was in a slump for a while with this story, but thanx to my friend Yuki I'm back on track. I had been thinking of finding some way to end this, but I really want to write more, and I have plenty of ideas (much better than the last idea with the island of fire XP) and personally I'm looking forward to it. I hope you enjoy my story :D**

* * *

"Looking back, I remember a day when an execution was to be held publically. Everyone had gathered that day to see this woman die. They all watched quietly as her insides were removed while she was still alive and as her limbs were cut off and hung on stakes. Through the crowd I could see a boy watching this. I suppose you would expect him to be in shock, but that wasn't the case. All I could see in his eyes was hatred. He'd probably been told many awful things about that woman by his father, so that when he was faced with her death he would feel nothing but anger and disgust. In fact, that was all anyone felt about her."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Hiei asked his father.

"You see, that was the first time I had ever seen Kyo. At his own mother's execution." Koray explained.

"What did she do?" Hiei asked.

"She had an affair with a human." Koray replied. "As you already know, fire demons are forbidden to interact with the outside in any way. The only exception to that rule is if the Lord has to speak with the rulers of other nations for whatever reason. In ordinary cases the person who breaks the rule would have been tortured and killed in the place where you were being held. However, since it was the Lord's wife who was the traitor it had to be held in public, as proof that the Lord would uphold the law no matter who broke it."

"I see. He had to save his own reputation." Hiei stated with a small smirk. Koray nodded. "Alright, so get back to your story."

"For the longest time, the entire village doubted that I was a pure-bred fire demon." Koray continued with a grim expression. "As you probably noticed, none of the other fire demons had black hair like you and I. And you probably didn't know this, but in this world a demon's specific race is marked by certain physical traits. For fire demons, it's red eyes and that brown-red color of hair. Another example would be that wind demons have black eyes and golden hair."

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "So why are we different?"

Koray didn't immediately respond. He seemed to be lost in thought for a few minutes. Finally he said: "I don't know." To Hiei, it was obvious that Koray was lying. He didn't know why the answer to such a simple question had to be kept secret, but right now wasn't the time to get into an argument over it. Hiei would inquire later.

"As I was saying, because of my unusual hair color it was questionable whether or not I was really a fire demon. The entire village went into a frenzy trying to come up with some kind of explanation, but much to their disappointment there was no proof that I was anything other than what my parents claimed I was. In the end, the Lord decided I could live among them. Of course, the villagers had no problem openly showing their displeasure of the fact that I still existed. Even as a kid I would get yelled at or kicked around just for walking in the streets." Koray sighed and diverted his eyes to the ground. "Though, even more so than them, I think my parents hated me the most. Because of me, they were no longer respected by anyone, and it drove my mother into insanity. Needless to say, they didn't treat the way parents should. And if I ever did something to upset them, which happened often, they would beat me. Eventually, I was disowned, and forced live on the streets."

"You were completely abandoned, huh?" Hiei stated with no show of emotion whatsoever.

"Yeah...." Koray replied quietly. "At first I was depressed, but as the years went by I turned those emotions into anger. For the longest time all I thought about was how much I hated being there. Of course, things only got worse. The Lord decided that I was too much of a nuisance being free to do whatever I wanted, so he forced me to work for his son, Kyo. In exchange for my services they would house and feed me."

"I see. So that's how you and Kyo got to know each other despite the fact that you were nothing more than a misfit." Hiei said.

"That's right. I suppose in a normal society we might have actually become friends.... But under the circumstances that we were, getting to know Kyo just made me hate him even more. Kyo, on the other hand, seemed to grow attached to me. It made sense, seeing as I was really the only one who didn't pamper him just because he was the Lord's son. In fact, I was defiant to the point that I sometimes had to be locked up. Kyo and I even got into a fist-fight once." Koray let out a small laugh, thinking back on that. Hiei just stared curiously. "Well, in any case, I worked under Kyo right up to the point that I was sent away to Hyouga. In fact, it happened while Kyo was experimenting with some black magic."

"Hn. So all this fuss resulted from nothing more than an honest accident." Hiei stated with a sigh. "Well, I already know what happened in Hyouga. Just skip to how you escaped from the fire demons."

"As you noticed, that prison camp isn't well guarded. And after years of torture, enduring the pain of my wounds was a simple matter. Once I got past the wall, all I had to do was run. I figured if I couldn't get away, then I might as well be killed. There was no sense in living just to be tortured for the rest of my life." Koray explained with a smile.

"But you obviously made it to the Island of Wind." Hiei said.

"Well, not necessarily." Koray replied. "With Kyo's soldiers still following, I collapsed not too far from a portal to the Island of Wind. I don't remember any of this, but apparently there were some soldiers from the Island of Wind nearby, who heard the commotion and came to check it out. Because of my hair color, they assumed that I was a human the fire demons had been hunting for fun, and refused to let Kyo's men take me away. Kyo's men thought I was dead at that point, so they didn't bother arguing. After that, one of the soldiers of the Island of Wind decided to take me to a hospital to see if I could be saved. Sure enough, I somehow managed to live."

"Hmph. Your luck continues to baffle me." Hiei sighed.

Koray let out a laugh. "I guess it's karma paying me back. But to continue, I probably should have mentioned this, but the soldier who essentially saved my life was Reuel."

"Is that so...." Hiei said with a tone that suggested he wasn't expecting to hear that, but that he wasn't surprised either.

"Yeah.... He sort of helped me get my life going on the Island of Wind. Of course at the time he wasn't a General, but he was known well enough. Though to be honest, I was a bit of an ass to him at the time. I wasn't really interested in making friends with anyone, especially since I hardly knew the meaning of the word, and all I could think about finding a way to get to Hina's world." Koray paused for a moment. "You see, I wasn't aware that she was dead.... So I obsessively searched for a way to travel between worlds, even though it's illegal."

"I take it you weren't successful." Hiei said.

"Not at first. But then I was approached by Athanasios. We made a deal that if I joined his organization he would teach me how to get to other worlds." Koray explained.

"He was just playing off your one weakness in order to trap you, huh."

"Pretty much." Koray replied. "From that point up to a few years ago I was a part of the organization called the Black Knights. While there, they taught me how to fight, how to use black magic, and any skill that would be useful in criminal activity. Though, as I rose in rank things got complicated. Athanasios ordered me to become a soldier on the Island of Wind, and use my friendship with Reuel as an advantage. After a while, lying to everyone became second nature to me, and without realizing it I had become used to just doing whatever Athanasios told me. I had nearly forgotten why I even joined his organization in the first place."

"But something made you realize what you'd been doing was wrong." Hiei said.

Koray took a moment to think about to say next. Finally, he said: "Well, Athanasios decided it was about time that he told me the truth. You see, when I first joined he sort of kept me away from anything that had to do with Hina. He said he didn't want me to just take what I wanted and leave. A few years ago, he finally told me that Hina had committed suicide after her clan had exiled one of our children. Naturally, when I heard this I was infuriated. In fact, I think I completely lost my mind. But in any case, I took a while to think back on the time I spent with the Black Knights and decided it would be best to leave them."

There was that feeling again. Hiei couldn't help but feel as though he wasn't getting the complete truth out of his father.

Koray continued on. "By that time both me and Reuel had risen high in rank, and became Generals along with Cleitnese and Archelaus. You've probably been wondering how I've been able to keep my association with the Black Knights a secret, what with Athanasios sending assassins out after me and what-not. Well, truth be told, all it takes is exceptional knowledge of how both sides think. So long as I could predict how the Black Knights would react to my betrayal, then I could find ways to keep it from other soldiers of the Island of Wind."

"Yes, and since you were already used to lying to them so much, I take it that wasn't much of an issue." Hiei said almost sarcastically.

"That's right." Koray replied with a smile. "Well, I think that about covers everything. And we're nearly at the Island of Wind. Anything else you wanted to know now?"

Hiei had to take a moment to think about it. He really wanted to say something about how, even now, Koray was still hiding things. But then again, he was really tired from the past couple of days spent on the Island of Fire. It would be easier to get himself treated, and have the argument later. "No, that's good for now." He told his father.

**********

It was now the second day since Hiei had left the Island of Fire, to which he had been sent by Athanasios, the leader of the Black Knights. Hiei had gotten all his wounds treated by Aysuna, Reuel's wife, and he was now fully healed. Since he and Koray had their private conversation, Hiei had said nothing to his father. Kurama had tried to get some details out of him, but Hiei just ignored his friend. He still had a lot to think about. Although he was pleased that Koray had finally told him the full story about what's been going on, there was the fact that he was still lying about some things. And that bothered Hiei more than how his father had hid the truth when they first met.

"Hiei, are you there?" Reuel asked from the other side of the door to the small room on the upper level of Koray's house where Hiei had been lying down.

"What do you want?" Hiei replied coldly.

"Lady Katana wants to see you and Kurama right now. Sorry, but you're gonna have to come with me." Reuel said he let himself into Hiei's room.

"Whatever." Hiei mumbled as he got up and followed Reuel. They went downstairs, and joined up with Kurama then left for the stronghold. Kurama questioned what this was all about, but Reuel said that Lady Katana would explain it.

After walking through a few small towns, they reached the stronghold, which was well-guarded as usual. Reuel led the two boys up many stone staircases, and finally brought them into a room where Katana, Archelaus, Cleitnese, and Koray awaited them.

"Good day, boys." Katana said to them from the other side of the room. Hiei and Kurama couldn't help but notice that everyone there had unusually serious faces.

"If you don't mind me asking, Lady Katana, what exactly is going on?" Kurama inquired politely.

"Right to the point, I see. In any case, the reason I've called you two here is to inform you that we're sending you two back to your own world." Katana explained. The generals all turned their eyes to Hiei, expecting some kind of reaction, but got nothing.

"Look, Hiei. We understand that during the short time you've been here you and your father may have bonded and that you may want to keep contact with him, but unfortunately we can't permit that." Archelaus said to the fire demon.

"I don't get it." Hiei replied with a somewhat puzzled expression.

"To put it bluntly, kid, your father screwed up big time by killing the entire race fire demons, so as punishment he's not allowed to have any form of contact with you, and we'll probably take away his status as a general for a while." Cleitnese explained with a slight smirk.

All eyes were on Hiei again, as they waited for some kind of reaction. Hiei looked over at Koray, who was smoking a cigarette and bore an overwhelming look of guilt in his eyes as he stared at his son. Hiei smirked and let out a small laugh. "So what's all the fuss about?"

"Huh?" Everyone else said in unison as their faces displayed great surprise. "Well, we just thought.... Um...."

"Look, personally, I don't care to stick around here. And quite frankly I don't care to see _his_ face ever again." Hiei said as he pointed at Koray.

"Hold on, Hiei, what are you saying?" Reuel demanded.

Hiei's expression became very serious. "I don't know if you've all realized this yet, but I've been through a lot of shit since he brought me here. And after thinking about it for the past couple of days, I realized that _he's_ the reason this is happening to me. Every bit of trouble I've gotten into has been because of someone's grudge against him. It all has absolutely nothing to with me. And to be honest, I'm sick of it. So hurry up and send me back to other world, and don't bother me ever again."

"Hmph! What an ungrateful bastard you are, kid." Cleitnese responded with a tone of disapproval.

"He's right, Hiei." Kurama said to his friend in a low tone. "Although I understand well what you're saying, doesn't that mean all the sacrifices Koray made for you were for nothing? Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not at all." Hiei replied. "I never asked for a father, and I'm certainly not going to put myself through misery for the sake of some lying, obsessive social reject."

"Hiei...." Koray started, finally. "All I've done since we met is protect you. I'm sorry you became a target of the Black Knights, and I'm sorry about what happened on the Island of Fire, but even still you should show some respect."

"Respect for what? All you've done is waste your life trying to find some fantasy life that was lost when the woman you loved died." Hiei stated firmly. Koray's eyes were filled with shock and rage at the fact that Hiei would dare say something like that. "Then you go and screw up _my_ life hoping that maybe you could still have that stupid dream you've always wanted. Well I don't want a family, and I don't want to be dragged down with you when reality finally catches up to you! In fact, I wish I'd never even met you!"

Suddenly Koray appeared in front of Hiei and slapped his son hard. The impact made Hiei fall to the ground. Hiei slowly sat himself up, and put his hand to the cheek that had been struck. He stared up at his father with a shocked expression, as he didn't think Koray was capable of harming him in any way. Koray, on the other hand, simply stared down at Hiei. His expression was hard to read. He was angry at what Hiei had said, and didn't seem to regret the action he took. But there were still traces of guilt in his eyes.

"That's enough. From both of you." Katana said she approached the two fire demons. "Hiei, you're going back to your own world right now."

"Sounds good to me." Hiei replied as he stood up. "And believe me; I don't have any intention of ever coming back."

"Archelaus." Katana motioned to the general, who then held out his right hand, gathering black energy there that grew into a portal just big enough for the two boys.

Without so much as a goodbye, Hiei and Kurama stepped into the portal and were once again surrounded by darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

"Hiei, are you alright?" The fire demon's old friend Yusuke asked with a concerned look on his face. The gang was gathered in Kuwabara's room to hang out, now that Koenma had dismissed them from the mission at Genkai's temple.

"Yeah, why?" Hiei replied indifferently.

"You just seem to have something on your mind." The Spirit Detective answered.

"Yeah, you're being even quieter than usual." Kuwabara added.

"It's nothing you need concern yourselves about." Hiei told them.

"Perhaps.... But then again, something doesn't feel right." Kurama said.

"I know what you mean, Kurama. Something in my head tells me that what we think is a lie. Especially when it comes to the mission from last week." Kuwabara explained.

"Yeah, I may not have a sixth sense or anything, but I still find it odd how Koenma called us all the way out there on an urgent mission, but then told us not to worry about it once the guys we were chasing escaped. I mean, if they were such a threat, shouldn't we be hunting them down or something?" Yusuke said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Kurama replied. "It seems to me that Spirit World is trying to hide something."

"That's not unusual for them." Yusuke stated.

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Kuwabara asked.

"At the moment, we can't do anything." Kurama replied. "All of this is speculation. We have no idea what they're trying to hide, and even if we did, we would need proof. For now, we'll just have to accept what has happened."

"Damn...." Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered with frustration.

"WHO WANTS DRINKS?" Shizuru and Atsuko burst out, drunk as usual. The four boys sweatdropped.

**********

"So, how long until Spirit World lets you go back to the Demon Plane?" Kurama asked Hiei as the two of them walked through town towards Kurama's house.

"Hopefully soon. I can't stand being in this place." Hiei replied.

"You were awfully quiet back at Kuwabara's place." Kurama pointed out.

"What does it matter? It's not like I care what Spirit World's up to. As long as they let me back into Makai, I'm happy." Hiei replied.

"I'm just curious what your opinion is on the matter." Kurama said.

Hiei didn't immediately respond. He took a few moments to carefully consider what to say. Kurama watched him closely until he finally spoke: "I feel like the mission we went on never happened."

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.

"When I think back on it, it seems like nothing more than a dream." Hiei replied.

"I see." Kurama said.

"And, well, speaking of dreams, I've been having some odd ones lately." Hiei continued hesitantly.

"Really? About what?" Kurama asked curiously.

"Well, basically I'm in a place that I can't identify. I don't know where it is or what it's called. The people there were friendly to me, but I don't know who they are. And there's a person I keep seeing over and over. He's tall, and kind of looks like me. This guy keeps smiling at me, and for some reason I feel comfortable around him, but then, for no reason, I feel angry with him."

"Interesting.... Don't the people say anything to let you know who they are, or what that place is?" Kurama inquired.

"No. Their lips are moving like they should be talking, but there's no sound." Hiei replied. "Though, I can't explain it, but everything in the dreams seems familiar."

"Do you think it could have been a place you visited in the past, but simply forgot?" Kurama suggested.

"I thought about that as well, but realized it couldn't be the case." Hiei said.

"Why's that?" Kurama asked.

"Because you were in some them. And you looked exactly like you do now." Hiei explained.

"You were dreaming of me? Forgive me Hiei, but I think we've covered this...." Kurama said as Hiei stared with confusion. "I'm just not interested in you in that way."

"TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, YOU MORON!" Hiei shouted at his friend, with his face gone completely red, and his composure flustered. "WHAT IN THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD _WANT_ TO DREAM ABOUT YOU ANYWAY?!"

"It's just a joke, Hiei." Kurama said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, whatever...." Hiei muttered before disappearing.

**********

That guy was there again. With his spiked hair and red eyes that almost glowed. He smiled, said a few words that Hiei couldn't hear and then gave Hiei a sword. The two of them covered their faces with clothing, and started to walk. Next thing Hiei knew, he was in a small dark room. The man who resembled Hiei was talking to someone who looked like a guard, and then the wall disappeared. Hiei and the man entered a large area which resembled a bar. The two of them sat down at a table, and then a man came up to them and started chatting to Hiei's companion. As usual, Hiei heard no sound coming from them. Suddenly, the guy who looked like Hiei killed the person he was talking to. All eyes were on him now, and he started fighting anyone who came forward. However, Hiei didn't stay to watch. He slipped through the crowd, and went to the back of the bar, where he burned a bunch of papers. Some men started attacking him, but Hiei easily beat them. Then Hiei started yelling at a scrawny, terrified guy. The man answered whatever it was Hiei was asking him, but then he was killed from someone who came up from behind. Hiei turned around and then -

"HIEI!" He heard a voice call out.

The fire demon woke with a start. It was just another dream. He looked down from the tree he had sat himself in, and saw Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama looking up at him.

"Hey, Hiei, come on down!" Yusuke shouted up at him.

Hiei complied, and jumped down from the tree. "What do you all want?"

Yusuke's expression grimed. "Funny thing.... Spirit World wants to talk to us."

**********

The four boys made their way to Spirit World with no trouble. Botan awaited them there with a smiling face, and guided them to Koenma's office.

"Lord Koenma, they're here!" Botan announced as they entered the large room where Koenma sat at his desk, which had piles of paperwork stacked up on it.

"Thank you, Botan. You may leave now." Koenma replied. Botan bowed briefly, then exited the office. Koenma looked at the group remaining. "So, boys, how have you been?"

"Perhaps we should get straight to the point, Koenma. Tell us why you've called us here." Kurama demanded.

Koenma sighed. "Well, alright. It's come to my attention that you boys aren't satisfied with how the last mission ended, so I figured rather than waiting for you guys to hunt me down in a fit of rage, I'd call you here and answer any questions you have."

"Hold on, how'd you know that we had doubts about that mission?" Yusuke asked.

"You had people watching us, didn't you?" Kurama said.

"Say what?! Why would you need people to spy on us?!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"There's obviously something more going on here. Tell us everything!" Hiei demanded.

"Just listen to me!" Koenma shouted. "This is all just a misunderstanding. Back at Genkai's temple, after the guys you were after got away, I sent the SDF to deal with them. And now those guys are in Spirit World's jail. That's why I told you not to worry about it."

"Hn, Sounds more like a convenient lie." Hiei stated.

"Believe me, Hiei, whether or not it's a lie, it would be in your best interest to leave this matter alone." Koenma said to the fire demon.

"That sounds like a warning." Kurama said, eyeing Koenma.

"Yes, it is.... Now I advise you to go back to your homes, and forget what had happened." Koenma replied.

"I don't think so, pacifier-breath! We're not leaving until we get the truth!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"That's right!" Kuwabara agreed.

"You don't understand -" Koenma was cut off by the ringing of his phone. He picked it up, and began to speaking to the person who called. "Hello?....Oh....What?! But I can handle it.... I see..... Very well." Koenma then hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"You will all come with me." Koenma said. "My father, King Enma, wishes to speak with you."


	19. Chapter 19

Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara followed Koenma down a long, dark hallway. After several minutes, they come across a large set of doors that were just about as large as those at the entrance to the Gate of Judgment. Without anyone doing anything, the doors slowly opened. Inside was an extremely large room that was completely empty, except for a few windows, and a large throne at the far end of the room. Upon that throne sat a giant man, with glasses and a thick black beard who wore expensive-looking clothes. That man was none other than King Enma himself.

"Dad... I've brought them as you requested." Koenma said with a bow. The four boys stared in awe at the King's size, if nothing else, though they could also sense a great authority with him.

"Thank you, Junior." King Enma said to his son. His voice was very deep, and gave off an echo as he spoke. "Good day, Spirit Detectives. If I recall correctly, this is the first time we have met in person."

Yusuke growled. "Enough of this bullshit! You called us here for a reason, now get to the point!"

"Ha. I see that you live up to your reputation as a no-good delinquent, Yusuke Urameshi. Have you no respect, even for the supreme ruler of Spirit World?"

"If you know my reputation, you should know that I don't bow down to anyone." Yusuke stated confidently.

"Yusuke, I don't think it would be wise to pick a fight here." Kurama whispered to the Spirit Detective.

"Yeah, I mean, this is _the_ King Enma!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Let's listen to what he has to say before we go gettin' ourselves into trouble!"

"Your friends are right, Yusuke." King Enma said firmly. "It would be best for you all to just come quietly."

"And why should we do that? What do you want from us, anyway?" Hiei demanded.

"To put it simply... You have all become a threat to Spirit World, and I won't allow you to run free any further." King Enma explained.

"WHAT?!" The four boys exclaimed in unison.

"What do you mean a 'threat'?!" Kuwabara demanded.

"Koenma!" Yusuke shouted as he walked over to his boss. "You knew this would happen, didn't you? Why the hell didn't you tell us?!"

"Yusuke, you have to understand, my father is the one who makes the final decision. There isn't anything I can do at this point!" Koenma sighed.

"Perhaps you would care to explain _why_ you consider us a threat at this point?" Kurama asked King Enma.

"Forget it, Kurama. The reasons don't matter." Hiei stated. "I, for one, refuse to allow this to happen, no matter what justification they may have."

"It's interesting that you think that, Hiei. Especially since _you're_ the main reason I have to do all this." King Enma said with an amused look on his face.

"Excuse me?!" The fire demon exclaimed.

"I also figured that the four of you wouldn't simply accept things, so I brought some insurance." King Enma snapped his fingers, and suddenly a group of SDF members appeared. However, with them they brought a tied up Yukina, and held a knife to her throat.

"YUKINA!!" Kuwabara and Yusuke exclaimed. Kurama stared with wide eyes, while the look on Hiei's face could only be described as utterly horrified.

"Dad... I can't believe you would do this! Taking a hostage was never part of what you discussed with me!" Koenma yelled.

"Quiet, Junior! This no longer concerns you!" King Enma exclaimed. Koenma backed off. "Now boys, you have a decision to make; will you go to Spirit World jail quietly, or will this young lady have to die for your useless struggle?"

"You monster! How dare you threaten Yukina like this?!" Kuwabara shouted out with rage. "My friends and I haven't even done anything wrong!"

"I find it amusing how you can place your trust into these people, who are always lying to you." King Enma said with a smirk.

"W-what are you talking about? These guys are my pals... Sure they have their secrets, but they would never lie to me!" Kuwabara stated loudly.

"And it's not just to you... They've been lying to this young lady as well." King Enma continued.

"What..." Kuwabara and Yukina muttered in unison.

"Stop..." Hiei said in a voice that almost sounded like he was begging. "Don't say another goddamned word!"

"Hiei..." Yusuke wanted to say something to calm him down, but knew that there was nothing he could say now.

"Perhaps it would benefit you to know, Kuwabara that those three standing next to you know who Yukina's twin brother is."

"No way..." Kuwbara muttered with wide eyes, as he turned his gaze to his companions. The look on their faces was enough of an answer, though Kuwabara still didn't want to believe it. "It can't be true... Yukina's been desperately searching for her brother... How could you guys keep something like that a secret?!"

"Is it true?!" Yukina demanded, while still being held by her captors. "Do you really know who my brother is? If you do, please tell me who he is!" None of them answered. "Why? Why won't you tell me?"

"You see? They can't even be honest to their own friends." King Enma stated. Yukina stared at the boys with wide, begging eyes. Hiei looked away. "But don't worry, I can tell you all about your dear brother." Hiei wanted to protest, but knew that there was nothing he could say to stop this. Yukina turned to King Enma hopefully. "After being tossed off the Ice Maidens' floating island, your brother was picked up by bandits. As a mere child, he possessed great strength, and spend most of his time doing nothing but killing. However, as the years went by he grew curious about his people and what had become of his sister. But since he didn't know how to get to the island, he acquired something to help him out; the Jagan."

All eyes turned to Hiei, as both Yukina and Kuwabara started to suspect the truth. "Hiei...?" Yukina muttered. The fire demon had become very anxious. His eyes were wide, and he was nervously sweating as his biggest secret was about to be revealed.

"After visiting Hyouga, and discovering that his twin sister disappeared into the human world, your brother also went to Ningenkai to search for you. There, he stole three treasures from me, along with two others." King Enma sent Kurama a glare. "And after that, he joined the Spirit Detectives, and finally found you at Tarukane's mansion."

Kuwabara gritted his teeth. "It's not true! There's no way that Shorty's Yukina's brother! He may be a jerk, but he wouldn't lie about something so important!" King Enma smirked.

"Hiei... Is it true? Are you my brother?" Yukina stared at Hiei with wide, sad eyes. Hiei clenched his fists, and tried to stop his uncontrollable shaking. He couldn't bring himself to answer. Not after lying for so long. He began to question whether it had been the right choice to hide the truth from her for so long. In the past he had convinced himself that it was, but now that she was going to find out like this, he wished he had told her himself. "Hiei!" Yukina shouted, catching the fire demon's attention. "Please... Just tell me if it's true..." Tears had formed in her eyes, and were ready to fall down her face.

Hiei hesitated, but then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "It... It's true. I'm your brother."

Yukina let her tears fall, as she accepted what Hiei said. Kuwabara, on the other hand, stared at Hiei with wide, rage-filled eyes. "You... How could you?!" Kuwabara muttered through gritted teeth. "If what you say is true, then you _knew_ she was looking for you! Where you just going to let her run around on a wild goose chase until she would finally give up?!" Kuwabara grabbed Hiei's scarf, and lifted to look in his eyes. "WERE YOU?!"

"It was for the best..." Hiei said, though it no longer sounded like he believed it. "I'm nothing but a no-good criminal. Yukina doesn't deserve someone like me for a brother... "

"I'll say she doesn't deserve you, you TWO-FACED LIAR!" Kuwabara shouted as he punched Hiei. The fire demon staggered backwards, but made no reaction at all.

"Kuwabara stop!" Yusuke shouted as he and Kurama rushed over to restrain their friend.

"And you two... You just _let_ him do this?!" Kuwabara screamed at the two.

"Listen to me, Kuwabara, it was Hiei's choice to keep it a secret. Even though we care about Yukina, it wasn't our place to tell her." Kurama explained. "Now stop this foolishness, and get yourself under control. You should be able to see that King Enma is just trying to turn us against each other."

"Kurama's right!" Yusuke said. "You can bitch at us later! Right now we have to focus on getting out of here."

"Shut up, Urameshi! I don't care what you guys have to say; Hiei's gonna get punished _right now_ for what he's done!" Kuwabara shouted as he struggled out of his friend's grasp, and moved to attack Hiei. The fire demon still didn't respond. He just held his head low and stared at the ground.

"Kazuma, please stop!" Yukina called out.

Kuwabara halted, as commanded, and stared at Yukina with wide eyes. "But... why?"

"It's... alright. I'm not angry at Hiei." Yukina said with a small smile. Hiei looked up at his sister with surprised eyes. "I think I understand why he did it... But even if I didn't, how could I hate him? He's my brother. And all he wanted to do was protect me. I shouldn't be anything less than grateful for everything he's done for me."

"Yukina..." Kuwabara muttered.

"Hiei... When I was searching for you, my brother, I admit I was afraid..." Yukina said to the fire demon. "I couldn't help but wonder if you hated me. After all, our people did such horrible things to you, but still accepted me as one of them. I thought that if I ever met my brother he might resent me for it. But I'm glad that you were the one who turned out to be my brother, because I know that you're above such thinking. And even though I didn't realize who you were, I always knew that I could trust you." Yukina gave Hiei a warm smile. The fire demon stared at his sister with a childish expression as he acknowledged that she genuinely loved him.

King Enma growled. The echo of his voice sounded very much like thunder, and instantly attracted the attention of everyone in the room. "You're a fool to trust that monster! He's nothing but a being of utter evil..."

"What the hell are you going on about?!" Yusuke demanded.

"Hiei is descendant of a race of evil demons. You cannot begin to understand the threat they pose to this world in its entirety. However, since Hiei was born unaware of his bloodline, and since when we found him the Jagan had reduced his power, I decided that there would be no harm in letting him live, so long as we could keep an eye on him."

"But clearly something has changed since then..." Kurama speculated.

"Yes. None of you may remember this, but you were introduced to Hiei's father not too long ago. I'm not sure exactly what he told you, Hiei, but it was definitely more than we would like you to know. He even went so far as to take you to his own world. Luckily, Junior had Kurama pursue you, and that gave him a reason to have to send you back."

"Wait... This doesn't make any sense..." Kuwabara muttered. "I don't remember meeting Hiei's father at all!"

"Yeah, I think we would remember something like that!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Could it be...?" Kurama started. The others turned to look at him with curious eyes. "Did you erase our memories?"

"What?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara exclaimed in shock, while Hiei stared with wide eyes.

King Enma sighed. "I was originally planning to throw you all into jail the moment Kurama and Hiei returned from the other world." The group of boys gasped. "However, Junior insisted that such measures weren't necessary, and convinced me that things would be alright if you simply forgot all that had happened."

The boys turned to their boss. "Koenma... You were trying to help us...?" He didn't respond, and turned his gaze to the floor.

"However, it had come to my attention that the spell we used has failed." King Enma said as he glared at Hiei.

"What..? How did it fail?" Yusuke and Kuwabara wondered.

"I see now." Kurama said. "Things were alright until Hiei shared an important piece of information with me."

"So the dreams I've been having are simply remnants of events that you tried to make me forget." Hiei stated, eyeing King Enma carefully.

"Quite possibly." King Enma replied. "Though to be perfectly honest, I have never before seen a case where this spell failed to completely erase the victim's memory. And that means that you're just as much a threat as I originally thought."

"And what do you plan to do about it _now_?" Hiei demanded.

"Now... You must die." King Enma said sternly. "And since there is absolutely no chance of your friends letting this go, then they have to die as well."

"And just what do you plan to do to Yukina?!" Kuwabara demanded.

"Well... Even though she is related to Hiei by blood, she poses no threat to us." King Enma replied. "I can arrange for her safety, provided you four simply die quietly."

The boys couldn't argue against that. They knew that if they tried to escape then the SDF would kill Yukina in an instant. And with everyone on such careful guard, there was no way they would able to rescue her.

"You first, Hiei." King Enma said. An SDF member with long, gravity-defying blue hair and large round earrings began to approach Hiei. The fire demon clenched his fists, realizing there was nothing he could do to stop this.

"No... Stop! Please, don't do this!" Yukina called out, as tears once again filled her eyes. Her shouts only made Hiei feel worse. He didn't want her to have to witness his death, but he also couldn't allow himself to be the cause of hers.

The SDF member stood in front of Hiei, looking down upon the fire demon. He gathered aura into his right hand, which would deliver one swift death-blow. Hiei put on a tough face, refusing to allow himself to be vulnerable even in the face of death. The SDF member brought back his hand, preparing to strike, but he stopped.

A heavy aura, filled with bloodlust consumed the room. Fear was instantly struck in everyone, including King Enma. Suddenly, screams, and the sound of bodies being torn apart were heard. The boys looked over at where Yukina was being held, but only saw the shredded remains of the SDF members. Then, without any warning, the SDF member who had nearly killed Hiei was also skewered by an unseen force.

"How troublesome..." A young, but cold voice echoed. "Spirit World always has been a nuisance."


	20. Chapter 20

"How troublesome..." A young, but cold voice echoed. "Spirit World always has been a nuisance."

The boys searched for the source of the voice, as well as the aura, but couldn't find it. Suddenly, a small being materialized in front of them and with him was Yukina. The boys found it hard to tell if he was a man or a child. He was no taller than Hiei, his face was soft like that of a child, but his hair was grey, and his cold eyes glowed red. He wore a simple black cloak that covered most of his body. He released Yukina, who ran over to the boys quickly.

"Who are you?" Yusuke asked the small being.

He let out a cold smile. "My name is Athanasios. I've simply come here to help you boys escape."

"That name seems familiar..." Hiei muttered.

"Ah, yes. You and I have met before. I'm an old acquaintance of your father." Athanasios said with a smirk. "Now how about we get out of here?"

"Hold it!" A new voice called out. Then an attack of wind came at Athanasios, who quickly jumped away. The source of that attack was a tall man with long blond hair, who wore fancy armour. "I won't allow you to take these boys."

"Well, well... If it isn't Archelaus, General of the Island of Wind." Athanasios said with an amused grin on his face. Once again, Hiei found the name, as well as Archelaus' face, familiar.

"You two have no right to be here... This doesn't concern either of you! Now leave!" King Enma shouted at the two intruders. It was clear on his face that he was afraid of something.

"Don't be a fool, King Enma." Athanasios said with a smirk. "You know very well that I've had my eye on Hiei for a while now. I'm not just going to sit back and let you kill him."

"You should also be aware that since Hiei's father is of my own world, not to mention a good friend of mine, that makes it my obligation to keep him safe." Archelaus said as he drew two long swords. "Especially from the likes of you." He glared at Athanasios.

"Jeez, Hiei, when'd you become so popular? You've got three people fighting over your life!" Yusuke said, half-jokingly.

"Shut up..." Hiei muttered. He was busy trying to wrap his head around who these people were, and why the cared so much about whether or not he lived.

Athanasios then flicked his wrist in the direction of Archelaus, causing an attack of black aura to shoot at the General. Archelaus' swords started to glow, and as the attack reached him, he sliced it in half, causing the black aura to dissipate. He then jumped into the air, and swung his swords at Athanasios, releasing a powerful attack of wind. Athanasios disappeared, and then reappeared behind Archelaus mid-air. He gathered his aura into his hand, and thrust it at Archelaus. The General blocked with his swords, and once again, the attack was nullified.

"Those are some impressive swords you have there." Athanasios said with a grin. "When fused with your aura, they not only amplify your power, but negate any other form of magic or aura. That they were able to stop my aura at point-blank range is even more impressive."

"Personally, I've never seen someone who has a black aura." Achelaus said, while eyeing Athanasios. "Would you care to explain how it came to be like that?"

"It's not something _you_ need to know." Athanasios replied.

"Enough of this!" King Enma shouted. "You two had better leave now, or else I will make you regret it!"

"King Enma _himself_ is going to get violent? I certainly look forward to this." Athanasios said with a smirk. Archelaus simply stared.

King Enma stood up, and released a powerful blue aura that filled the entire room. The four boys and Yukina struggled under the pressure, but Koenma stepped up and created a shield around them. Archelaus used his swords as a defence, while Athanasios endured it with little trouble. King Enma focused his aura into his right hand, and flicked his fingers, releasing large blasts of aura which targeted Archelaus and Athanasios. The two were able to dodge at first, but as the attacks grew fiercer, Archelaus has to fend them off with his swords, while Athanasios intercepted them with his own attacks of aura.

As soon as there was an opening, Archelaus sent wind razors flying at King Enma, however the King's aura protected him from the assault. Athanasios then gathered a large amount of black aura into his hand and threw it at King Enma. The King's aura wasn't able to protect him from the attack, and he received a wound to the right shoulder. Archelaus took the opening to fuse his aura with the air around Athanasios, and cause numerous deep cuts all over the small man's body. Irritated, Athanasios threw a small blast of aura in Archelaus' direction. The General didn't have enough time to block, and so the attack hit him head-on, sending him flying.

Archelaus got to his feet as quick as his new injury would allow, only to find that King Enma sent a blast of aura in his direction. Using wind, the General lifted himself into the air, just in time to avoid the assault.

"Woah... All these guys are so powerful..." Kuwabara stated in awe.

"Yes... It will not be easy to find a winner." Kurama said, while closely examining the fighters.

King Enma started to use more powerful attacks, forcing Archelaus to do nothing but dodge, since his wind attacks couldn't reach the King and there was no way for him to get close enough to use his swords. Athanasios, however, took any opportunity to strike the King with his black aura. He gathered an extremely large amount into his hand and shot it at King Enma, who did the same. The two large attacks met, and caused a huge explosion. Archelaus took the opportunity to quickly approach King Enma, stab his sword into the giant man's ankle, and bring it up, causing a huge slash up his leg. The King fell to his knees as blood poured from the wound, making something of a red river.

"DAD!" Koenma called out as Athanasios appeared above the King and prepared to fire a large amount of his black aura. King Enma was in an off-guard position, and wouldn't have time to block.

However, Archelaus lifted himself up to Athanasios with his wind, and destroyed the attack with his swords before Athanasios could strike. Then, before his opponent had time to retaliate, Archelaus sent him flying using a huge gust of wind.

Although it was difficult, Athanasios managed to land on his feet, and stared at Archelaus with an amused expression. "What... suddenly you feel like standing up for your opponent?"

"I came here to protect Hiei, not kill the ruler of Spirit World." Archelaus explained.

"Too bad you're going to fail." Athanasios smirked as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Koenma's barrier. Using a small amount of black aura, he destroyed the barrier sending the young ruler and his companions flying back a few feet. The boys scrambled to get back on their feet, and just as they did black aura began to surround them. They caught a glimpse of Archelaus rushing over to them, and then everything went completely black.

**********

**"KNOCKED OUT AGAIN? WHAT A WEAK THING YOU ARE."** Hiei heard a familiar voice say.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" Hiei demanded.

**"THERE WILL BE TIME FOR SUCH THINGS LATER. FOR NOW, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WAKE UP. AFTER ALL, YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER."**

Hiei became puzzled. "In danger from what?"

**"FROM ATHANASIOS. HE HAS A GOAL THAT HE IS DESPERATE TO ACCOMPLISH AT ALL COSTS, AND HE WILL TRY TO USE YOU TO GET WHAT HE WANTS."**

"What is he trying to accomplish? Why does he need me?" Hiei asked.

**"I CANNOT REVEAL THAT. BUT I WILL WARN YOU; BE READY FOR DEATH. ATHANASIOS SHOWS NO MERCY TO ANYONE, AND WILL ALMOST DEFINATELY KILL YOU."**

"Wait... You said he wanted to use me. How does that work if I'm dead?" Hiei demanded.

"Hiei!" A female voice called out. Hiei slowly opened his eyes to see Yukina kneeling beside him with a worried look on her face.

"Yukina..." Hiei said as he sat up. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were all awake as well and looking at him curiously. "Where are we?" He asked, as he looked around. They were in a large, empty room with black walls that had one small light in the center of the ceiling.

"Beats me." Yusuke replied. "We all woke up here."

"Yeah, 'cept for you." Kuwabara said loudly. "What took ya so long to wake up?"

"Were you having another strange dream?" Kurama asked.

Hiei hesitated, but then answered: "It wasn't really a dream... More like a voice in my head. He said we're all in danger and that..." Hiei stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say.

"And what?" The others demanded.

"Nothing... It wasn't important." Hiei replied. The others stared at him, knowing that he was lying for his own convenience, but they also knew that there was no way he'd tell them what was on his mind.

Suddenly, a black cloud-like substance appeared. It thickened, and transformed into the small being who called himself Athanasios. "Welcome to my home gentlemen... Young lady." He said, nodding towards Yukina, who didn't respond.

"You've got some explaining to do pal!" Yusuke exclaimed, as he stood up. "Where the hell are we, and why did you bring us here?! And while you're at it, why don't you tell us who you are!"

"Such impatience..." Athanasios said as he shook his head. "In any case, like I said before; my name is Athanasios. Although this may hold no meaning for you at the moment, I am the leader of the Black Knights. And as to where you are, you are in another world."

"Another world?" Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered in unison.

"Let's not get off topic. The most important thing is what he plans to do next." Kurama said as he gave Athanasios a cold glare.

"To tell you the truth, I just brought you all here to confirm something that I realized the last time Hiei used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

Hiei twitched. "And what was that?"

"When the Jagan eye was implanted, your power was reduced to that of a weakling. However, by some stroke of miracle you managed to surpass the limitations that the Jagan set on all others who had acquired it in the past, and used it to your advantage. Namely in the summoning of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

"What is your point?" Kurama demanded.

"The point is that I had assumed the Jagan was no longer affecting his power. But the truth is that he still hasn't reached his full potential, and the cause of that is the Jagan eye."

"I don't understand... I thought Hiei's power has increased above what he had before the Jagan was implanted." Yusuke questioned.

"Think of it this way: Hiei was an A-class demon, but then he acquired the Jagan and was reduced to D-class. However, with the implant still there, he was able to push himself up to a stronger level of A-class. Now... considering he made that much improvement with a Jagan implant, imagine the increase in power he could have had _without_ the implant..." Athanasios explained.

"But that's..." The others muttered, realizing what he was saying. If Hiei had never received the Jagan implant, he would have the opportunity to gain power equal, or greater to that of the Demon Kings.

"Whether or not what you say is true, it's too late now." Hiei stated, though he looked a little shaken up. "I have the Jagan eye, and I've never regretted making that decision."

"That's not what this is about, Hiei." Athanasios said with a grin. "You see I have great need of someone like you... However, so long as that implant is screwing up your body, you're useless to me. Thus I've decided to do you a favour, and remove it."

"What...?" Hiei muttered, with wide eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

"Hiei, I have great need of someone like you. But so long as the Jagan eye is screwing up your body, you're useless to me. Thus, I've decided to do you a favour and remove it." Athanasios explained.

"What...?" Hiei stared with wide eyes. As far as he knew, removing the Jagan would kill him. No one could survive something like that. He wondered if this was what that voice was talking about.

"You can't do that! You'll kill him!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Besides that, Hiei would never help you in any way!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yeah, you're just wasting your time!" Kuwabara agreed.

"Just be good little boys, and step aside." Athanasios said as his black aura latched onto the necks of the three boys and pulled them out of range from Hiei. "As for you..." He said to Yukina, "Don't make me have to treat you in the same manner." He then proceeded to swat Yukina away. She landed a few feet away, and put a hand to her wounded cheek as she sat up.

Hiei backed himself up against the wall, as he searched the room for some kind of exit to escape from. He found nothing; the room was completely empty. He felt Athanasios' black aura slither around his arms and legs, then tighten, so as to prevent him from struggling. Even though he knew it was useless, Hiei tried to force himself free. But it was no use; he was trapped there. Athanasios walked up to him and removed the white bandana that covered his Jagan eye. Hiei was now breathing heavily, and he started to tremble as Athanasios' left hand gripped Hiei's chin to prevent any movement from his head. Athanasios then held out his right hand, as the fingernails on his first three fingers grew up to two or three inches longer. Hiei was now trembling uncontrollably, as Athanasios's hand moved in to his forehead. In a quick, precise movement, the claws penetrated his forehead, around his Jagan.

Despite the grip on his chin, a loud cry escaped Hiei's mouth as the unbearable pain began to consume him. He could feel his own warm blood flowing down his face, but even more than that he could feel every slight movement of the claws that were now stabbed into his forehead. He knew that even the slightest mistake in removing them could mean his death. But Hiei wasn't concerned about that now. He just wanted the pain to stop. Even if it meant his death, anything would be better than what he was experiencing in that moment. He then felt the claws tighten around the Jagan eye, and then they pulled it out. The scream that erupted from Hiei's mouth sounded like it would wake the dead. Athanasios released Hiei, who fell to the floor, paralyzed from the pain, and dying from the extreme loss of blood, if nothing else.

Yukina, being the only one who could move freely, got up and began to approach her brother. However, Hiei suddenly sat up, and started screaming as his body radiated with a powerful, fiery aura that sent Yukina flying back. It began to tear apart anything that was within a few feet of Hiei. Athanasios released Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara, then stepped back as the range of Hiei's aura began to spread wider.

"Dammit! What's going on?!" Yusuke demanded, as he and the others backed away as well.

"With the Jagan gone, Hiei's power is now completely unstable. He can no longer control it, and it doesn't help that he's overcome with pain and most likely dying from the experience of having the Jagan removed." Kurama explained.

"There's gotta be something we can do!" Kuwabara shouted, as Hiei's aura continued to increase in power and range, and completely destroyed the walls of the room they were in. The three boys and Yukina backed up into a small hallway in order to avoid getting hurt.

"We can't do anything... If we try to get close, that aura will tear apart our bodies." Kurama told them.

Kurama and the others then heard footsteps from behind, and turned around to see who was coming. Down the hall, they saw Archelaus running towards them with Koray, though none of them could remember who Koray was.

"You again?!" The boys exclaimed at Archelaus.

"What the hell's going on here?" Achelaus demanded.

"That bastard Athanasios pulled out Hiei's Jagan, and then he started giving off this aura!" Yusuke explained.

"Hiei...." Koray muttered as he started to run over to his son. Archelaus cried out for him to stop, but Koray didn't listen. As he approached Hiei, the aura inflicted cuts all over his body that got deeper as he got closer to his son, but Koray didn't even feel the pain of those wounds. He embraced Hiei tightly, which caused him to scream out in pain, and the aura he was emitting got stronger, and inflicted even more damage upon Koray. "Hiei! You've got to stop this!" Koray called out. "Listen to me... Everything will be alright! Just stop this, and we'll get you out of here! Please, listen to me!" Although Koray called with all his might, Hiei didn't respond in the slightest. Koray then closed his eyes, and started to focus on releasing his own aura.

"What the hell's he doing?! By releasing his aura too, it'll only make things worse!" Kuwabara shouted as they were all forced to leap away from the explosion of energy caused by Koray's aura mixed with Hiei's.

"No... This might be the solution..." Archelaus muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kurama inquired.

"By synchronizing his aura with Hiei's, Koray may be able to take control of Hiei's aura, and stop it. But considering how powerful it is... Koray may not have enough strength to heal himself when this is over..."

Koray focused intensely on stopping Hiei's rampaging energy. It was so out of control that it was taking everything he had to seize control of it. Koray knew that his body was getting mauled badly, and he wouldn't be able to continue much longer, but he refused to give up. Just as he could feel his consciousness slipping away, his aura finally entered into synch with Hiei's and he was able to completely stop it.

For a moment the two demons made no movement or sound at all. Koray looked at his arms, which he almost didn't recognize from all the deep cuts and severe burns, and realized the rest of him must be just as bad, if not worse. Hiei just sat there, wrapped up in Koray's arms, and tried to piece together what had just happened. He still felt overwhelming pain throughout his body, and found he could hardly focus on anything beyond that. Just before the two of them blacked out, Hiei was able to utter one word:

"Father...."

**********

He felt nothing. The pain was gone. But why? Was he dead?

Hiei thought this to himself as he seemed to float in nothingness. He tried to open his eyes, but all he could see was darkness. He tried to hear something, but there was no sound. He tried to reach out and feel, but there was nothing there. He was cold, and the darkness around him seemed to bring him into a trance. He felt like he could just stay there, consumed by nothingness.

Suddenly, in front of him a figure appeared in the distance. As it drew closer to him, Hiei realized that it was himself.

"That's me..." He muttered as he stared into his own eyes. He never realized before how much could be seen through them. They were cold and full of hate. But those were just hiding the loneliness he had always felt inside, and the subtle desire for friends and a loving family. Desires that he felt had never been fully fulfilled. "I deserve this fate... After all, who would miss me? I'm just a monster who's unworthy of anyone's love. I've done nothing but kill, and commit pointless evils."

The figure in front of him faded away as Hiei say flashes of his past fly by. He was abandoned by the Ice Maidens. He was killing demons as a toddler. He was stealing treasures. He was fighting strong opponents. He was abandoned by the group of bandits.

"Why... Why did I bother living? What was my purpose?" Hiei saw himself receiving the Jagan implant. "What did I accomplish in my life?" He saw himself getting defeated by Yusuke. "Who would mourn my death?" He saw himself alongside Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama as they fought the Saint Beasts... Won the Dark Tournament... Defeated Sensui...

And then he saw Yukina. And her words echoed out: _"I'm glad that you were the one who turned out to be my brother... I always knew I could trust you."_

Then he remembered. It was all for her, wasn't it? The reason he acquired the Jagan, and went to the human world, and teamed up with the Spirit Detective... Everything was for her sake. She was the reason he lived... And yet, he died without telling her how he felt. He never told her that he loved her...

**"SO YOU'VE FINALLY FOUND YOUR RESOLVE."**

"You again..." Hiei muttered.

**"YES. I'VE COME TO HELP YOU."**

"Who the hell are you? A God of death?"

**"NOT NECESSARILY... BUT I OWE YOUR FATHER A FAVOR, AND SINCE IT DOESN'T DO ME ANY HARM, I'M GOING TO RESTORE YOU TO LIFE."**

"Answer me! Who are you?!" Hiei shouted.

**"VERY WELL, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD TELL YOU MY NAME AT LEAST; IT IS SERAFIN. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE, JUST ASK YOUR FATHER, OR ONE OF THOSE GENERALS."**

"Serafin..." Hiei repeated to himself. Suddenly, everything became completely black once again. Hiei felt like he was being spun around, and feeling started to return to him. His entire body was filled with pain, and his chest was so heavy he could barely breathe.

"Hiei!" He heard a voice call out. He opened his eyes to see who it was, and saw Yukina standing above him. "Hiei, you're alive..." She said as she smiled widely, and started to cry.

"Yukina..." Hiei muttered. "Is this a dream?"

"No, it's real... You're alive!" She exclaimed as she embraced him tightly. At first Hiei was taken aback, but then he embraced her back.

"Yukina... I just... wanted to tell you something..." Hiei started. Yukina looked at him curiously. "I know I haven't been the best brother to you... And I know now that I shouldn't have lied to you... But through all that I still... I've always loved you."

In that moment, a single tear fell from Hiei's eye, and as it left Hiei's cheek it turned into a gem and rolled onto the floor.


	22. Chapter 22

"It's nothing short of a miracle that you're alive!" Aysuna, Reuel's wife, exclaimed as she examined Hiei's wounds. "You were definitely dead when I last left you."

"I wish I could explain it myself..." Hiei muttered, as he felt the area on his forehead where the Jagan used to be. Now there was nothing but a large intent. "What happened after I blacked out?" Hiei directed the question to Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama, who were all seated in the hospital room. Yukina had been sent off to run some errands with Reuel, while Aysuna tended to Hiei's injuries.

"Well, as soon as that wild explosion of energy stopped, we all rushed over to you guys. Yukina immediately started using her healing powers on you, but you didn't seem to be getting any better." Yusuke explained. "So Archelaus created a portal, and we brought you and Koray here to get treatment. Though, you were proclaimed dead."

Hiei paused to think things over. At first he wondered how Archelaus and Koray were able to find them, but he concluded that it had to do with the fact that Koray was a member of the Black Knights. That said, it would probably be better not to bring it up.

"Say... How is he?" Hiei asked.

"Who?" The fire demon's friend's wondered.

"If you're talking about Koray," Aysuna chimed in. "He's alive, but hasn't woken up since he was brought here."

**********

"Thank you for coming with me, Mr. Reuel." Yukina smiled at the General, as the two of them entered the hospital.

"Anytime." He replied. "You sure are in a good mood today."

"Well, of course. Hiei's alive, how could I be anything but overjoyed." Yukina said. Reuel smiled. Just looking at her brought up his spirits. "By the way, Mr. Reuel, back then... What were you and Mr. Cleitenes doing?"

"Oh... We were keeping the Black Knights at bay. You guys were at a small base of theirs on the Island of Fire, so naturally they had guards set up. Cleitenes and I held them off, while Archelaus and your father went to help you guys."

"I see." Yukina replied. "Mr. Reuel, there's someone I would like to visit. Do you mind if I head off?"

"Sure, just don't get lost." Reuel said, giving the girl a wave as she ran off.

Yukina walked down a few hallways then came across the room with the person she was looking for. She entered the room, then pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

"I wish you would wake up... father." She said as she gazed upon Koray's unconscious face. As she observed his scars, she could only imagine the pain he had been put through. But even more than that, she realized that those scars were the proof of his love for his family. She gently reached out and pushed his long, black bangs out of his face. "I wonder what kind of dream you're having..."

**********

It was cold... Colder than anything he had experienced before. He opened his eyes, hoping to find out why it was so cold, but all he saw was white. He reached out and picked up some of this white stuff. He had never seen it before, and it turned to water in his warm hands. How strange... He thought to himself. Suddenly he felt very tired. It was obviously because of the cold... He was a fire demon, after all, and as such it was bad for him to be exposed to extremely cold temperatures for too long. He tried to stand up, but his body was too weak and he fell back onto the ground.

He then noticed a figure standing not too far away from him. It appeared to be a woman in a kimono. "Hello...?" He called out. The woman did nothing. "Please... Can you take me someplace sheltered...? I can't be out here too long..."

The woman then slowly approached him. As she got closer, he could finally make out her appearance. She was a tall, slim woman with a perfectly shaped face that accented her dark blue eyes. He was taken away by her beauty. Without a word, she helped him to his feet, and led him off into the distance. Before long, they came across a village, but the woman didn't lead him into it. They went around, behind some of the houses, and then entered one through the back door. She sat him down on a couch, and then lit a fire in the fireplace.

"Thank you." He said to her. She looked up at him curiously, but then went back to tending the fire. "Won't you tell me your name?" He asked as politely as he could.

She paused, and then looked up at him with those curious eyes. "You're a man?" She asked simply.

He was taken aback by the unusual question. "Yes." He replied.

"I see." She muttered softly. "What is your name?"

Although he thought it was rude of her to ask for his name when she had neglected to tell him her own, he decided to answer. "My name is Koray."

"Koray..." She repeated to herself. "How unusual."

That annoyed him a little. "You know, where I come from its customary to give your own name after receiving someone else's."

"Ah! Forgive me, my name is Hina." She said, giving him a slight bow. "I'm sorry... It's just that I'm not used to having company such as yourself..." He gave her a confused look. "You see, men are forbidden here."

"Oh...?" Koray said, now thoroughly confused. "Why's that?"

"Because men are evil." Hina replied. Koray sweatdropped. "At least... That's what the elders say."

"Right..." Koray muttered. "Then why did you help me?"

"I guess... I wanted to find out if what they say is true." Hina answered.

"Interesting." Koray smirked. "So, what do you think so far?"

Hina paused to look at him closely. Her eyes seemed to be trying to look inside him. Then she answered, "I don't think you're evil. You don't seem be anything like what the elders described to us. But... I still get a strange feeling when I look at you. I can't explain it, really... Nor can I tell if it's good or bad."

Although he didn't voice it, Koray felt the same way. There was something about her that was alluring. It might have been because of her beauty, or perhaps because she came from a world different from his. But then, she was the first person to ever say that he wasn't evil. He felt a strong desire to be with her that he couldn't ignore, no matter how much his common sense told him that it was wrong.

"Um... Koray?" Hina stuttered.

"Yeah?" He looked at her.

"Could you please tell me what it's like in the outside world?" He asked with a hopeful expression.

Koray sighed. "Sorry. Where I come from we're forbidden from interacting with the outside world as well. Even though I'd like to answer, I have nothing to tell you."

"I see..." She said, clearly disappointed. "Then why don't you tell me about where you come from?"

"Tch! You don't want to know about that place. It's full of rotten bastards who treat me no better than shit." Koray said hatefully.

"Is that why you left?" Hina asked.

"Sure." Koray muttered simply. The truth was that he was sent away by an accident that occurred while people were fooling around with black magic, but it's not like it mattered.

"I envy your courage." Hina said with a sad smile. Koray stared at her with wide eyes. "I wish I could leave this place... No matter what the elders say, I don't think its right to force people to live such a lonely, empty life. But... If I did leave I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I don't know anything about the outside world."

Koray stared curiously as a small tear fell from the woman's eye. Just before it hit the floor, it solidified, turning into a jewel. He could tell she was suffering here. It reminded him of how he felt all his life... Trapped... Imprisoned...

He moved off the couch and sat beside her on the floor, and then placed one hand on her cheek and kissed her. For several minutes the two stayed locked together. Even though they barely knew each other, there was a strong passion coming from both of them. Neither had ever experienced something of the like. It gave them a pleasure that seemed almost sinful. While they longed for it to go on forever, their lips eventually parted.

Hina paused, still taken away by the moment, and then asked, "What do you call that?"

"A kiss." Koray replied with a smile.

"I see." Hina said, with a slight blush forming on her cheeks. "Could we... do it again?"

Again Koray smiled as he leaned in and kissed her once more. His hand stoked her smooth cheek, and although her skin was unusually cold, he truly enjoyed it. Koray then moved his hands to her back and began undoing her obi. As he removed it, Hina was unsure of what he was doing, but she began to understand once he opened her kimono and started stroking her bare skin. Hina hesitated, as this was the one thing she was told, above all, to never do. Especially during this special time that only comes once every one hundred years. Koray then paused for a moment to remove his shirt. Hina stared curiously, as she had never seen a man's body before, and then reached out and put her hands on his chest. It was strong, and solid, but above all it was warm. She wrapped her arms around him, and her head rested on his chest as she let the warmth, and the rhythmic beating of his heart consume her. She then decided, despite what she had been told all her life, to go through with this. As Koray placed his hand on her chin and lifted her face into another kiss, she knew that this must have been what they call "love". Koray then removed his pants, and Hina let her kimono fall off her body as Koray gently pushed her onto her back. As Koray's warm body met Hina's the two felt an overwhelming pleasure. Their hearts quickened, and their breathing became heavy. The experience was indescribable, and almost felt like a trance. As their lips and tongues continued to interact, and their bodies rubbed together, the two of them wished that it could last forever. But, of course, all good things must come to an end.

Koray woke up the next day to two voices arguing in the next room over. One he recognized as Hina, while the other was an unfamiliar female voice. He got dressed, and then listened to what they were saying.

"Hina, I can't believe you did that!" The unfamiliar girl exclaimed in disbelief.

"Rui, I'm sorry." Hina said. "But you know, I don't regret it in the slightest."

Rui slapped her. "You fool... Do you even realize what might happen to you?!"

Hina hesitated as she held her hand to her cheek. "Please don't tell anyone, Rui."

"Hina..." She paused to think, but then noticed Koray looking in from the doorway. Her eyes widened as she stared at Koray and backed away slowly.

"Rui, it's okay." Hina tried to reassure her friend.

"No... No it's not!" Rui shouted as she ran out of Hina's house.

"What was that about?" Koray asked.

Hina smiled. "Well, of course she's bothered by your presence here, but..." Koray stared curiously. "She's angry because... I'm pregnant."

Koray's eyes widened. "With my child?" Hina nodded. "But... How can you know so soon?"

"Every one hundred years, we Ice Maidens go through a period where we give birth to a single female child by ourselves. However, it's also the one time we can get pregnant with a boy if a man is involved." Hina explained.

"I see..." Koray muttered. "And you're going through that cycle now?" Hina nodded. Koray paused to think. Even if he was able to stay there hidden, his presence would be revealed once Hina gave birth to a boy instead of a girl. And considering that men are forbidden here, he didn't want to think about what the people here might do to Hina and their child for breaking the law. "What do you want to do from here?" He asked her.

"I want to leave..." Hina said simply. "Koray, would you come with me to the outside world?"

"Of course." He smiled. "You're pregnant with my child. I can't just abandon you."

Hina smiled widely as tears formed in her eyes. "Thank you... so much."

Koray smiled. Even if it was unexpected, he was going to be a father. Then and there he promised himself that he would raise his little boy with all the love and affection that he'd never received from his family. He would only look back on his previous home in order to appreciate the new life he was going to start with Hina.

Hina spent the rest of the day gathering any belongings she might need, though there wasn't much beyond food and a few sets of clothes. Hina lent Koray a thick coat, since the cold weather bothered him, and they set off. After a while of walking, they came to what seemed to be the edge of a cliff. Koray looked down, only to realize that they were up in the air.

"What the hell _is_ this place...?" He muttered, as he could barely make out a large forest through the clouds beneath them.

"A floating island. It's constantly moving, and added to the fact that it's so far up, it makes it difficult for outsiders to get here." Hina explained.

Suddenly, not too far away from them, a swirl of black magic appeared that took the form of an opening that could fit an average sized man. Out of it came about six men that Koray instantly recognized as soldiers from his homeland, the Island of Fire. Following them came a man who wore nicer clothing, and glared at Koray harshly as he acknowledged his presence.

"Kyo..." Koray muttered spitefully as he placed himself protectively in front of Hina. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I came here to get you. Despite that you're a pain in the ass; you _are_ one of our own kin, after all." Kyo said, looking him in the eye.

"That's bullshit! You've never once treated me like one of your own, so don't lie!" Koray shouted. "And just to let you know, I'm not going back with you."

"Oh...?" Kyo narrowed his eyes as he stared at Koray. Then he noticed Hina behind Koray, who seemed to be defending her. The fire Lord smirked. "Please... Don't tell me you've fallen in love." Koray said nothing, but gritted his teeth. Kyo's smirk disappeared. "You dare go against the law? You filth... You're no better than _she_ was! Men, seize them!"

The six soldiers charged at Koray and Hina, ready to attack. Koray pushed Hina away, and then started fighting the men. He had no weapons so he had to fight hand-to-hand. He dodged several punches and kicks, and then retaliated, punching one of them hard in the ribs, kicking another in the face, and then going back to dodging. He wasn't making much progress, since all these guys were top-notch fighters and wouldn't be taken out easily. But they were impatient and didn't want the fight to drag out, so two of them left and targeted Hina.

"Dammit!" Koray shouted as he tried to get away from the rest of them. But as he ran over to Hina, who was now being held by the two soldiers, Koray received a hard punch to the face, which sent him flying off to the side. He could feel his cheek swelling, but before he could pick himself up, two of the men lifted him up by his arms, while a third punched him hard, breaking several of his ribs. Koray groaned in pain, and coughed up blood while the soldiers laughed at him.

"Koray..." Hina muttered as she stared in horror at what they were doing to him.

"Enough." Kyo said as he stared at Koray with angry eyes. "Kill the girl, and we'll leave."

Koray's eyes widened as the men started walking over to Hina. "Stop! Kyo, don't do this!" He shouted in desperation.

The fire Lord punched him. "Why not?! Why the hell should this whore receive my mercy?!"

"I'll do anything! I swear... Just please leave her be!" Koray begged.

"_Anything_ you say?" Kyo muttered in disbelief. "What if I asked for your life? Would you willingly die for her?"

"I would." Koray stated firmly. Kyo's eye widened as he realized that Koray was serious.

"My Lord?" One of the soldiers questioned, asking what they were going to do.

Kyo hesitated as he stared at Koray intensely. "Let's go. Bring him."

"And the woman?" They asked.

"Leave her. She's no threat to us." Kyo muttered as he walked into the portal.

The men who had Hina secured released her, almost throwing her to the ground. Hina stared as Koray was dragged away. He looked at her with eyes begging to be forgiven. Hina held out her hand and called out to him. She called for him to return to her, but he couldn't answer her plea. The image of her despairing face getting further and further away as he was taken into the portal would be the last time he ever saw her. And it would remain engraved into his memory for the rest of his life.

**********

"HINA!" Koray called out as he returned to consciousness.

"Ah... You're awake!" Yukina stated with a relieved smile.

Koray looked at her, and then his eyes widened. "Hina... It's you..." He reached out and placed a hand on Yukina's face. She stared, unsure of what to say, as he stroked her cheek. Koray suddenly sat up and embraced her tightly. "Hina... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry for everything!" Tears stared streaming down his face. He cried with all his might as he held onto Yukina and remembered everything that happened between him and Hina. "I... I love you, Hina... I didn't mean for things to turn out this way... Please... Forgive me..."

A tear fell down Yukina's cheek, and crystallized into a jewel as she embraced her father. "It's okay... You've been forgiven."


	23. Chapter 23

"Good day, Lady Katana." Reuel said as he joined the ruler, Archelaus and Cleitenes on a small hill on the outskirts of one of the towns.

"Hello, Reuel." She said blandly without even looking up to acknowledge his presence. "How are Koray and Hiei's wounds?"

"Over the past couple of days they've healed up nicely." Reuel replied. "Aysuna will be letting them out of the hospital today, and then Koray wants to start training Hiei as soon as possible, since he can no longer control his power."

Katana sighed. "I should go and apologize to them... Since this is my fault for sending Hiei back to Spirit World."

"There's no need to think like that." Cleitnese said. "I think it's a good thing that Hiei no longer has the Jagan."

"Why's that?" The ruler inquired.

"The Jagan was restricting his abilities considerably. Although he did gain special powers with it, the fact remains that he could have become much stronger without it." Cleintnese explained. "In truth the Jagan is like a parasite that infects the body and forces it to function in a certain way. On top of the fact that it constantly consumes the wielder's aura, it forces them to use their own power in a different way. That's why most people who acquire the Jagan don't live long enough to use it."

"That makes sense." Archelaus said. "And since the Jagan is something from the demon plane of that world, then it stands to reason that even if Hiei was able to grow stronger with the Jagan, he never would have been able to surpass the strongest level of demon in that world."

"Which means that he never would have be able to reach our level of power." Reuel continued.

"Exactly. Which is why Koray's so eager to start training him. So he doesn't go out of control like when the Jagan was removed." Cleitnese concluded.

"If that's the case, then don't you think it sounds like the leader of the Black Knights was trying to help him?" Katana questioned.

"According to Hiei's friends, Athanasios claimed that he needs Hiei to do something, but that he first needed the Jagan removed." Archelaus replied.

"Did he say what this 'something' is?" Katana asked.

"Unfortunately, no."

For a while, the four of them remained silent as they each fell into their own thoughts.

"My Lady, if you don't mind, I have a question about Koray." Archelaus requested. Katana said nothing, so the General took it as a yes. "Why didn't you throw him in jail when he killed the race of fire demons?"

Katana didn't reply.

"Archelaus is right." Cleitenes continued. "Didn't that incident prove what you've been saying all along about Koray being too unstable? And besides that, due to his actions, the Black Knights have taken complete control of the Island of Fire! Although I do hold a certain respect for him, what he did was completely senseless!"

"Cleitnese... Do you even realize what those people did to him?!" Reuel demanded, sending his comrade a harsh glare.

"I don't believe I asked for either of your opinions." Archelaus stated boldly. "Lady Katana?"

"I don't know why I let him be... I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess I feel like I've gotten to know his a bit better since Hiei arrived. Before, he always kept to himself and did whatever he pleased without thinking about the consequences. He never seemed to be happy, and when I was a kid, he scared me. But now, I've seen him smile... And I see him completely dedicating himself to Hiei. I just can't think of him as a bad person anymore... And I think I can understand why the previous Lord paid so much attention to him."

"Yes... The previous Lord seemed to understand whatever Koray was going through... And trusted him, despite what other people said about him." Reuel said grimly.

Archelaus clenched his fists as en expression of rage took form on his face. "If I ever find the one who assassinated the previous Lord... I'll put him through an experience worst that the deepest pits of hell!"

**********

"So, how are you doing today?" Koray asked Hiei with a smile as they walked away from the hospital and headed to Koray's house.

"Fine." Hiei said simply.

"Really? Judging from you limp I'd say that you're not fully recovered yet." Koray teased.

"Shut up. You give me such a headache..." Hiei muttered as he placed his hand on his forehead. He flinched when he touched the spot where the Jagan used to be, as he nearly forgot there was nothing there anymore.

"I heard that spirit world erased you and your friends' memories." Koray stated more than asked.

"Yeah... Though I somehow got mine back. The others still don't remember a thing, so I tried to fill them in." Hiei explained.

"I see..." Koray said as he started smoking a cigarette and fell into thought.

"Hey... Have you ever heard the name Serafin before?" Hiei asked cautiously.

"I have. Though I want to know where you heard it. That's not a name that comes up in everyday conversation." Koray said, eyeing Hiei curiously.

Hiei paused to think. If the name was such a big deal, people would think he's crazy if he said that a voice in his head addressed itself that way. It would probably be better to find out who this Serafin person is first. "It was brought up once when we were with Athanasios." Hiei lied.

"I see." Koray smirked, accepting the answer. "I suppose it might benefit you to know who he is. Serafin is the name of one of the four demon Kings; the King of Fire. Along with him is the King of Wind, the King of Earth, and the King of Water."

"Kings?" Hiei muttered. "But I thought..."

"They don't exist in this world... Or rather on this plane of this world." Koray explained. Hiei became more confused. Koray sighed then continued. "Just like in your world there exists a Spirit World, a Human World, and a Demon World, here there are also separate 'worlds'. To be fair, everything I'm about to tell you is speculation since no one on this plane has solid proof that the others exist, but anyway... According to the theories, there exist two more planes that would commonly be referred to as 'heaven' and 'hell'. The plane that we're on now is a temporary existence, since everything dies. No one's been able to determine the purpose of this plane, but one thing that's agreed on, is that once people here die their essence moves on to one of the other two planes where an immortal 'life' is obtained. Call it a rebirth if you want."

"What does this have to do with Serafin and the other Kings?" Hiei asked.

"The theory is that humans go to 'heaven', where there exists a single entity to rule over them, and demons go to 'hell', where there exists four Kings who rule over them. One for each race of Demons."

"I see..." Hiei muttered, taking in the information.

"Though... The term 'King' may not be the best way to describe them." Koray said with a smirk. "The four Demon Kings are more along the lines of Gods." Hiei stared curiously. "You see, there isn't a single being or army that can surpass the power of any of the four Kings, and all of them are exactly equal in power."

"What about the so-called entity that rules 'heaven'?" Hiei asked.

"I'm not too sure. Though it can be assumed that it's equal to the demon Kings as well." Koray said with a shrug.

"Interesting..." Hiei muttered. "Even though you say it's all just theory, it seems to me like you firmly believe all this stuff about the Demon Kings. And when you spoke of their power, you made it sound like facts rather than speculation."

Koray simply replied with his usual smile. "In any case, you should really start to focus on training. You seem like a fast learner, so it shouldn't take too long to get you accustomed to your aura."

"Sure." Hiei shrugged. Although he would never openly admit it, he was looking forward to some training. Even though he disliked Koray's personality, Hiei respected his father as a fighter and was more than eager to learn his techniques. It was really the only thing he was good for.

**********

_Two months later..._

"Hey, you guys are back!" Aysuna exclaimed as she burst into Koray's house. "How was the training?"

"For someone who acts like such a moron, he can give some decent coaching." Hiei muttered as he lay sprawled out on the couch, half asleep. Koray sweatdropped, unsure of whether Hiei's intention was to insult or compliment him.

"Yeah, even we got some training!" Kuwabara stated gleefully. "I've never felt stronger!"

"It was definitely better than Grandma's training." Yusuke said.

"Koray had had a lot of valuable things to teach us." Kurama stated.

"It's good to hear you guys enjoyed yourselves." Aysuna smiled. "What about you, Yukina? I hope it wasn't too boring watching the boys beat each other up."

"Of course not." Yukina replied. "They all improved a lot, and I was able to heal any sever injuries they received."

"So Hiei, have you got a grasp on your powers now?" Aysuna questioned.

"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have come back yet." Hiei muttered.

"He's roughly around the same level as he was before." Koray explained. "Like I thought, he's a fast learner, so he got the hang of things pretty quickly. And I was able to teach him some new techniques."

"That's great." Aysuna smiled. "By the way, sorry Reuel isn't here. He's off working, but should be back shortly."

"Ah, speaking of Reuel, I wanted to ask him a favour." Koray said. "I need to speak to Katana in private, so I was wondering if he could arrange that for me."

"Well, sure." Aysuna stared curiously. "What do you need to talk with her about?"

"Ah, it's really nothing that concerns you..." Koray stuttered. "But I guess I'll just meet up with him at your place, if that's alright."

"Okay." Aysuna said. The two of them left, leaving the group of boys and Yukina alone.

"Greeeat! We got the place to ourselves." Yusuke exclaimed as he stretched.

"Who's up for a game of cards?" Kuwabara asked. Yusuke and Kurama nodded. "What about you, Hiei?" When they got no answer, they all looked over to the couch where Hiei was now sound asleep.

"Heh. He did receive more training than us. Let's go upstairs and leave him to rest." Kurama said. "Yukina, are you coming?"

"Yes, I'll be up in just a moment." She said. The others went on ahead, while Yukina strolled into the kitchen to prepare some snacks for the group. She set a variety of finger foods and four drinks on a tray and then headed upstairs.

"Hold on a sec." She heard Hiei call out just before she started climbing the stairs.

"What is it? Are you going to play cards as well?" Yukina smiled.

"Um... No." Hiei stuttered awkwardly. "There's just... something I've been meaning to return to you."

"Huh? What is it?" Yukina asked as she set down the tray and sat beside Hiei. From Hie neck, Hiei took off a necklace with a gem that Yukina recognized as their mother's tear stone.

"This is yours." Hiei said as he handed his sister her heirloom. "I know how much it means to you, so I didn't want to keep it."

"Thank you." Yukina smiled.

Hiei looked away. "I'm sorry... I never really apologized to you for lying..."

"It's okay." Yukina said as she took hold of his hand. "You don't have to be so hard on yourself. You were just trying to protect me, so I have nothing to be angry about."

Hiei smiled. "Yukina... You're the most important person in my life. I'll always be there to protect you."


	24. Chapter 24

"You wanted to see me, Koray?" Katana asked, as she and Koray stood in a small room in the stronghold.

"Yeah. I have a few things to say to you." Koray said with a slight grin.

Katana sighed. "If it's about your position as a General-"

"It's not." Koray interrupted. "I don't plan on regaining that status."

Katana eyed him curiously. "Why not?"

"I have more important things to do. Being a General would just hold me back." Koray said with a smile.

"I see..." Katana muttered as she turned her gaze out the window. "Koray, I want to tell you that even though you were a complete jackass, I did value what you had to offer as a General. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I guess all the crap you put me though made me a stronger leader. So thank you."

"It was... Just a promise I made to someone." Koray replied with a strange sadness filling his eyes.

"A promise? To who?" Katana stared at him curiously.

"It's what I came here to talk about. I made that promise to Lord Velimir shortly before he was killed." Koray said.

"The previous Lord..." Katana muttered. "Just what did you come here to tell me?"

"I wanted you to know that I held a lot of respect for him. He was the kindest person I ever met, and I would never be where I am today if it weren't for him." Koray explained. "When I first came here, I was having trouble getting used to the way things work here, and even later on I still had problems that wouldn't have been resolved without his help. I felt you should know that."

"Why would you tell _me_ this?" Katana asked.

Koray began to slowly approach the ruler. "Even though you're just an orphan that he adopted, he still treated you as his own daughter." Koray placed a hand on Katana's cheek and looked her in the eye. "Even as he neared death, Lord Velimir was thinking about your well-being. 'Protect Katana in my place.' That was his final wish..."

Katana's eyes widened. "But... Koray, how would you know that?!"

"I couldn't keep my promise..." Koray muttered

"Answer me, Koray!" Katana screamed.

"His final wish..." The fire demon continued.

"KORAY!"

"Before I killed him..." Koray then surrounded his hand with aura, and then sent it through Katana's chest, piercing her heart. The girl gave a loud cry as she coughed up blood, and her body slowly got weaker. Tears flowed down her face as she looked up at Koray with a horrified expression. She couldn't understand why he was doing this. She didn't understand why there was such sadness and guilt in his eyes. Surely there was a reason for him to be doing this. Koray then embraced her dying body and whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry."

With that, Katana's life faded away and she lay dead in Koray's arms.

**********

_"Koray, you wanted to see me?" _

_"Yes... Lord Velimir." Koray replied. "I just... wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me up until now. And I'm glad I was able to serve under you."_

_"Is something bothering you?" Velimir asked. _

_Koray hesitated. "No..."_

_"Don't lie to me, Koray." Velimir smiled. "I know you well enough to tell when something's wrong. So, what have you come here for?"_

_Koray began to tremble. "Well... I've..."_

_"You've come here to kill me, haven't you." Velimir stated._

_Koray's eyes widened with shock. "What?! But how... did you know...?" He stuttered._

_"I also know that you're a member of the Black Knights." Velimir smiled. Koray's eyes widened further as he drew his sword and got ready for some form of ambush. "Don't worry, I haven't told anyone. You can relax and talk with me."_

_"How long have you known?" Koray asked._

_"Many years now." Velimir replied._

_"I don't get it! Why keep me at your side, if you know I'm a double agent?! You're not that much of a fool!" Koray demanded._

_"Well... It's because I trust you." Velimir smiled. "I know that the person obeying the Black Knights isn't the real you. I know that you have more gentle and caring heart."_

_"Bullshit." Koray muttered._

_"You haven't forgotten, have you? The reason you're alive to this day... And the reason you joined the Black Knights?" Velimir asked._

_"What...?" Koray muttered._

_"You survived this long for _her_, right?" Velimir smiled. "As well as your children, isn't that so?"_

_Koray's eyes widened as memories began to flood into his mind. "Hina..."_

_"Isn't it about time you reunite with them? Believe me, the Black Knights will never allow you to get what you want. You need to get away from them, and fully commit yourself to your children. Since you were ordered to kill me, you should carry out that final order and then leave the Black Knights behind you."_

_"But Lord Velimir...!" Koray stuttered._

_"Just promise me one thing... Please protect Katana in my place. She will be the next ruler, even though she's not ready. You need to be there for her, and make her stronger. Can you do that?" Velimir pleaded._

_"Yes... I promise I'll fulfill this last wish of yours." Koray stated with sad eyes, as he readied his sword for a strike._

_"Thank you, Koray." Velimir smiled as a tear fell down his cheek._

_With a quick movement, Koray delivered a death blow, killing Velimir, the ruler of the Island of Wind._

**********

"KORAY?!" Archelaus exclaimed from the doorway as he stared in horror. Koray's hand was still pierced through Katana's body, which lay lifeless in his arms. "What the hell is going on here...?!"

Koray stared back with a terrified expression.

"Answer me! This had better not be what it looks like..." Archelaus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry, Archelaus..." Koray muttered as he removed his hand from Katana's body and gently placed the corpse on the floor.

"You... SON OF BITCH!" Archelaus shouted as he punched Koray with all his rage. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?! WE ALL TRUSTED YOU!" He grabbed Koray by the neck and then started punching him in the ribs over and over. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE OUR COMRADE! MORE THAN THAT, I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS! AND YET YOU BETRAY US LIKE THIS!" Finally he released Koray who staggered a bit, but still stood up as if nothing had happened. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!"

Koray stared at Archelaus with weak, regretful eyes. "It had to be done..." He muttered.

"That can't honestly be the best you can come up with!" Archelaus growled through gritted teeth.

Koray said nothing.

Just then, guards entered the room, having heard the screaming. They demanded to know what had happened, and then became utterly horrified when they saw the corpse of their ruler. Archelaus informed them that Koray was the one responsible for her death and then ordered his arrest. Koray said nothing, nor did he struggle as he was shackled, received spells to seal off his aura, and then dragged off to prison.

**********

"Ahhhhhh." Yusuke yawned as he stretched. "Is that bastard _still_ not back yet? It's been a whole day... What the hell could he be talking about with Katana for so long?"

"It must be something of great importance." Kurama stated.

"You'd think he could have told us how long he'd be so we wouldn't have to wait like this." Kuwabara whined.

"Who cares, he'll come back when he's finished." Hiei muttered.

Suddenly they heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Yukina said as she hurried and opened the door. "Mr. Reuel! It's great to see you." Yukina smiled as she led the General into the house.

"It's... good to see you too." Reuel smiled awkwardly.

"Is something the matter?" Kurama asked. Reuel hesitated.

"And where's Koray, anyway?" Kuwabara questioned.

"Koray... Won't be back for a while..." Reuel replied.

"Why's that?" The group stared curiously.

"He's been put into prison..." Reuel explained. "For the assassination of Lady Katana."

Hiei's eyes widened, as he stared at Reuel with disbelief. "What...?!"


	25. Chapter 25

Reuel led Hiei, Yukina, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama down into a deep basement of the Stronghold. Like the rest of it, this part was entirely stone. It was cold and dark, despite the line of torches on the walls. They passed many guards along the way, who sent Hiei sympathetic glances, as they could all guess why he was there. The fire demon didn't care though. He and the others simply ignored them, and continued on. Reuel unlocked a heavy door, and they went through. Inside were lines of cells, most of which were filled.

"Most of them are members of the Black Knights." Reuel muttered.

No one said anything in response, and followed Reuel further in. They received dirty looks from most of the prisoners, which also went ignored. Finally Reuel came to a halt in front of one of the cells. Inside, Koray was sleeping as he sat against the wall. He had heavy shackles on his wrists and ankles, and looked to have been beaten. Before anyone could say anything to him, he stirred and opened his eyes, looking at them with a blank expression.

Then he smiled. "Hi, Hiei... Yukina... It's good to see you two."

Yukina said nothing, while Hiei's anger began to rise. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "What the hell's wrong with you... You put on a smile and pretend that everything's alright... It's infuriating!"

Koray's smile faded as he took in Hiei's words.

"Hiei's right..." Yusuke muttered. "Don't you feel any guilt for what you've done?" Koray didn't answer.

"I just don't get it!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "Why'd you do it? She's the ruler here, right? Wasn't it your duty to protect her?" Again, Koray said nothing.

"It's no use..." Reuel said. "We've been trying to get him to talk about it, but nothing's worked. And it's not like we can even torture him..."

"Koray... Father... Please tell me." Yukina pleaded. "Why did you do it?"

Koray looked away as he hesitated. He then turned to them and said, "I want to talk to Hiei... Alone."

"Koray... what are you up to?" Reuel eyed him suspiciously.

"Nothing. I just want to talk to Hiei." Koray sent Reuel a glare. With that, the others conceded and left, leaving Hiei and Koray alone.

* * *

"We should just execute him!" Cleitnese exclaimed. "Sooner or later the people of this nation will want to know who our Lady's killer is. If we execute him in public it will satisfy everyone, and we'll have our vengeance!"

"That may be so, but still..." Reuel objected.

"What, do you pity him because he pretended to be your friend? Pathetic. You should never let your personal feelings get in the way of your duty." Cleitnese spat out. "And as for you..." He turned to Hiei. "Surely you can inform us on what his motifs were!"

"As I've already said, he didn't tell me anything worthwhile." Hiei said.

"Stupid brat! I know you're lying! Now tell me the truth!" Cleitnese shouted as he grabbed Hiei, lifting him off the ground.

"Release him, Cleitnese!" Archelaus commanded. "As you said, we should keep our personal feelings to ourselves. Just because you're angry with Koray doesn't mean you can take it out on Hiei."

Reluctantly, Cleitnese obeyed. "What do you propse we do, then?" He asked.

"I don't think we should kill Koray just yet." Archelaus stated calmly. "We need to understand the situation better before we make an irreversible mistake. But he needs to be interrogated more. If he won't even talk to Hiei, then we'll have to think of some forceful way to make him talk."

"What about the Island? Who will rule it in Katana's place?" Hiei asked.

For a moment, the three Generals stood in silence. Then Archelaus spoke up. "I will, since no one else seems interested. Any complaints?"

"Not at all." Reuel said with a grin.

"It appears we have no choice." Cleitnese sighed.

* * *

"I can't believe this! We just get back from training, here I was ready for some R'n'R and then Koray gets himself thrown in jail." Yusuke whined as the group of boys walked down an empty path that joined two towns.

"Come on, Hiei! He had to have told you _something_!" Kuwabara demanded.

"As I said before, what we spoke of is none of your business." Hiei muttered with annoyance.

"I have a hard time believing that he didn't tell you the reason for his actions." Kurama stated. "As well, I don't think he killed Katana simply because he disliked her. There was definitely an ulterior motive. The question is, would that be enough to pardon him, or would it make him out to be more of a villain?"

Hiei didn't say anything.

"Wait, are you saying that Koray might be keeping his mouth shut because his reason for killing her could put him into even more trouble?" Yusuke asked.

"That's right." Kurama replied.

"Well, what kind of reason could it be?" Kuwabara wondered.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think it may have something to do with the Black Knights." Kurama speculated.

"What? But I thought he wasn't with those guys anymore!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"That's what he _says_. But of course there's no way for us to know whether that's the whole truth." Kurama said as he turned his eyes to Hiei.

The fire demon sighed. "Fine... I'll tell you."

_(Earlier that day)_

_"Why are you only talking to me?" Hiei asked, with a clearly displeased tone._

_Koray sighed. "Because it directly concerns you... And I didn't think you would be content with people knowing the whole truth." Hiei stared at his father curiously. "Do you remember what I told you about the demon Kings, in particular Serafin?" Hiei nodded. "The truth is that they really do exist... I figured you would have already known, but you didn't say anything. Hiei... When Athanasios ripped out your Jagan, you should have died. There was no way for you to get out of that alive. However, it was Serafin who restored you to life."_

_"Assuming that I believe everything you're telling me... Why would he care about whether or not I live?" Hiei demanded. Thinking back, it seemed as though that voice in this head was always concerned with his well being in one way or another._

_"Because I asked him to..." Koray sighed. "The thing is, he can't just save people whenever he wants. A price has to paid. In this case it was one life for another."_

_"Wait...!" Hiei stuttered, taken aback. "Are you saying that you offered Katana's life to Serafin in exchange for mine?"_

_Koray nodded._

_"I can't believe you did that!" Hiei yelled. "I never asked to be brought back... If this is what had to be done to save me, then I would have been better off dead!"_

_"But you had a reason to come back, right?" Koray asked. "That's what Serafin told me."_

_"Excuse me?" Hiei glared, confused._

_"Hiei, I know that you sometimes hear his voice in your head. It's the same for me." Koray grinned. "You see, Serafin has a special connection with fire demons. He can enter our minds at any time, whether we know it or not. He and I talk often. And he tells me whenever he manages to make contact with you."_

_Hiei stared curiously. "So back on the Island of Fire when I lost control of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame..."_

_"That was his doing." Koray replied._

_"I see." Hiei muttered, unsure of how he should respond._

_Koray grinned. "Well, in any case, you have the truth now. You can decide for yourself what you want the others to know."_

_"What about you?" Hiei asked. "Are you just going to rot in prison, or let yourself be executed?"_

_"Naturally, what the Generals decide to do to me depends on what you tell them." Koray said. Suddenly his grin turned into a dark smirk. "But don't worry. All things will be resolved in due time."_

_(END)_

"Serafin... Who exactly is that?" Kurama asked.

"Apparently he's some legendary God of fire demons who resides in the underworld." Hiei explained. "There's a God of wind demons, earth demons, and water demons as well."

"And you hear this guy in your head? That's slightly disturbing." Yusuke shuttered.

"Shut up." Hiei muttered as he diverted his eyes.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, I'm sure if you talked things out with the Generals they'd understand-"

"No! You're not telling them anything!" Hiei shouted harshly. Kuwabara cringed and jumped a few steps back at the unexpected outburst. "Look, it has nothing to do with you, got it?"

Although the others had more that they wanted to say, they simply nodded, knowing that Hiei was too stubborn to listen to them anyway.

Suddenly, the group of boys felt the presence of several people approaching them. They made gestures to each other in order to make sure everyone was aware that they were being stalked. After focusing for a moment, they figured out that there were about ten people around them. Finally, three of them stepped into view. They were all wearing identical black robes, and were hooded so the boys couldn't see their faces.

"Who the hell are you?" Yusuke demanded.

"We are messengers from Lord Athanasios." One of them stated. "He wishes to speak with all of you."

"About what?" Kurama asked harshly.

"About joining the Black Knights." The cloaked men answered.

"Is that so? Well, you can tell this Athan-whatever-his-name-is that we refuse!" Kuwabara shouted out.

"Of course, our Lord is barely concerned with what a half-wit like _you_ says. He's more interested in what Hiei has to say." One of the cloaked men explained.

All eyes turned to Hiei, who was staring intensely at the cloaked men with his usual annoyed expression. His mouth then reformed into a smirk. "First, I have a question for you."

"Go on." The cloaked men said.

"How stupid does your leader think I am?" The cloaked men said nothing in response, while Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama grinned confidently. "I may not know much about him or what his plans are... But after everything he's done to me, I can honestly say that I have absolutely no interest in working with him. In fact, I'd like nothing more than for him to drop dead right now. So go tell him to screw off."

"Hmph... So that is your answer." The cloaked men stated. "In that case, we have no choice but to take you to Lord Athanasios by force!" Suddenly the three men charged at the boys.

"Heh. I'll go first." Yusuke stated with a demonic smile as he disappeared.

Before the cloaked men had time to think, Yusuke reappeared in front of the center man. He delivered a fistful of aura to his face, sending the man flying. While the other two paused in shock, Kuwabara charged forward and slashed the cloaked figure on the right with his spirit sword, leaving a large gash down his body. At the same time, Hiei appeared next to the man on the left, and sliced him into pieces with movements too fast for the eye to see. Then from the ground emerged a large plant that devoured the corpses of the slaughtered men.

"Hn. Hardly worthy opponents." Hiei smirked.

"Yeah, they barely put up a fight!" Kuwabara boasted.

"Of course not. They were simply messengers." Kurama said.

Suddenly, the boys heard clapping not too far away. They turned to the source of the sound, only to see a small figure with grey hair and glowing crimson eyes approaching them. He bore a confident, sadistic smile on his face. The boys instantly recognized him as Athanasios.

"What a wonderful performance." The small man said as he continued to draw nearer. "I see that the two months you spent training with Koray paid off."

"You..." The boys muttered as they gritted their teeth.

"It's a pity that none of you are interested in joining me. I could have put your talent to good use." Athanasios sighed. "However, it's not as though it will change anything."

"What do you mean by that?" Hiei demanded.

Athanasios smirked widely. "The Island of Wind is going to fall."

"What?" The boys exclaimed in unison.

"That's a load of crap! The Generals aren't gonna sit by and let you do this!" Yusuke shouted.

"The Generals? They're hardly a threat at this point." Athanasios said. "Koray's the only one who knows enough about me to be a threat, but the other three don't trust him. Even if they did, I doubt he would say anything."

"What are you planning to do?" Kurama asked.

However, before Athanasios could answer, the ground started to tremble as the result of a distant explosion. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei looked in the direction of the nearest town, only to see smoke and flames.

"Be patient, boys." Athanasios said with a smirk. "The fun is about to begin."

* * *

**Just a quick note from the author: Yeah, Fanfiction has really pissed me off, with how they eliminated the old paragraph breaks... now i have to put a stupid line there instead... oh, well. I'll have to deal -_-**


	26. Chapter 26

"What the hell's going on over there?" Yusuke exclaimed as more and more explosions erupted in any town they could see. The ground shook with each explosion, smoke and flames were starting to appear, and faint cries of innocent villages flowed through the air.

"Koray did me a great favour when he practically gave me the Island of Fire." Athanasios smirked. "Before then, I never really had a large facility where I could build up a powerful army. However, with the entire Island, it was a simple matter. And now I can easily take the Island of Wind as well."

"Koray must have known this would happen..." Kurama muttered.

"But then why did he let it happen?" Kuwabara demanded.

"It's simple: At the time he had his own priorities to attend to. That's just how he is." Hiei explained.

"Indeed." Athanasios smiled. "Well, I must be off. I have some matters to settle with the Generals, not to mention your father. Try not to get killed in the meantime." And with that, the small man dissolved into a black aura that disappeared.

"So what now?" Kuwabara asked as the group gazed upon the chaos in the towns.

"What do you mean 'what now?' you fool!" Hiei muttered through gritted teeth. Kuwabara stared curiously at Hiei, who was clenching his fists, and seemed to be restraining an uncontrollable rage.

"Kuwabara, what Hiei means is that we left Yukina at the Stronghold with the Generals." Kurama explained, though a look of worry was painted on his face.

"And that's where that freak show is headed!" Yusuke exclaimed. Without a moment's hesitation the group stormed off in the direction of the Stronghold.

* * *

"I never expected the Black Knights to make a move this quickly." Archelaus stated as he and Reuel stood near the entrance to the Stronghold. "To think, they've only had the Island of Fire for little over two months and this is their strength."

"A large group of our men have already been dispatched to the towns being attacked, but..." Reuel stated grimly.

"I understand. There are just too many of them... And using the towns as the battle ground holds our own men back." Archelaus replied.

"Excuse me, Mr. Archelaus." Yukina said as she appeared behind the Generals. "Do you know if Hiei and the others are alright?"

"Unfortunately, we haven't seen them since they left." Archelaus told her.

"I see. I'm sorry for disturbing you." Yukina said with a bow as she stepped aside.

"Cleitnese, how's the shield holding up?" Archelaus called out to the third General, who was maintaining a large shield that surrounded the entire Stronghold.

"Hmph. It's a useless effort. Those foot soldiers aren't even bothering to attack us." He replied.

"I wonder why... I mean, if we fall then the Island is lost." Reuel stated.

"That's true..." Archelaus muttered. "However, their leader hasn't yet made an appearance."

As if on cue, a spear-like formation of black aura crashed through Cleitnese's shield, shattering it like glass, and then hitting the General in the left shoulder. Cleitnese let out a loud cry, as the aura blew up, taking off his arm.

"Fools..." A familiar voice rang out. "I know better than to send weaklings to finish off men of your power." As Archelaus and Reuel rushed to Cleitnese's aid, they gazed up to see Athanasios standing on the large wall that surrounded the Stronghold.

"Heh. What took you so long to show up, leader of the Black Knights?" Archelaus smirked as he drew his swords.

"Patience is a necessity when carrying out large battle plans such as this." Athanasios smirked back.

"Yukina! Forgive me, but we'll have to ask you to treat Cleitnese while we take care of this guy." Reuel said as he got into a fighting position.

"Of course." Yukina said as she went to Cleitnese's side and began to close his wound with her healing powers.

Archelaus and Reuel then began to run away from their wounded companion. As Athanasios followed them by running along the large wall, he gathered black aura into his hands and shot it at the two Generals. He did this several times, while Archelaus and Reuel dodged, having no time to send in a counterattack. Finally, Reuel found an opening and sent a fist surrounded by wind at the wall, causing it to collapse under Athanasios. With the small man's attack temporarily halted, Archelaus used a gust of wind to send himself into the air above Athanasios. His swords began to glow as they had in their previous battle, and he sent slashes of aura at Athanasios. However, Athanasios did a mid-air flip to avoid the attack and sent a blast of aura at Archelaus. The General used one of his swords to slice the blast in half, making it dissolve into nothing.

Suddenly, before Athanasios had any time to begin a new attack, Reuel appeared behind him and punched him with a fist surrounded by wind. The wind easily sliced through Athanasios' small body, tearing him into pieces.

"They got him!" Yukina informed Cleitnese as she worked on closing his wound, since she couldn't make limbs regenerate.

However, Archelaus noticed that although a fatal blow had been delivered, Athanasios' face bore a wide smirk or superiority. As the two Generals remained suspended in mid-air by their wind, they could hear faint laughing coming from Athanasios.

"Heh heh heh... You truly are fools. Did you honestly think killing me would be that simple?" Athanasios muttered as his black aura slithered around his body, covering the wounded area. Then his arms and legs became surrounded by the black aura, as if it were apart of his body. "Or rather, I should say... You _can't_ kill me, because I am IMMORTAL!"

"WHAT?" The Generals exclaimed. "That's _impossible!_"

"Quite to the contrary..." Athanasios stated as hundreds of black blades shot out from the black aura around his body in the direction of the Generals. Archelaus and Reuel managed to move just enough to avoid lethal blows, however they both received dozens of cuts all over their bodies. "I've been alive for over 3000 years! Those men attacking the towns are all expendable; I can always find replacements for them! I am the most powerful force in the Black Knights, and I cannot die!" Athanasios shouted as his arms transformed into long, black blades.

In movements too fast to see, he delivered a powerful strike across Reuel's torso, causing the General to crash onto the ground in a mass of blood. Athanasios then appeared in front of Archelaus, however the General managed to block the first strike with his swords. The two allowed themselves to land on the ground, and began a sword fight on foot. Despite his size, Athanasios was incredibly fast, and there was a lot of power behind every stroke of his blades. It was all Archelaus could do to block; he couldn't find an opening anywhere.

"Damn...! My swords should be able to destroy those blades on his arms, but they aren't any more effective than a regular weapon!" Archelaus muttered in frustration.

"To be more precise, _my_ aura blades could easily destroy a regular weapon, but because yours are special they're able to hold out." Athanasios explained as he continued to overpower Archelaus in swordplay. However, he paused for a moment, and then shot a single blade of black aura behind him. It hit Reuel's right wrist, in order to stop the gathering of aura that was to be fired at Athanasios.

"Shit! He noticed...!" Reuel muttered through gritted teeth. The blade in his wrist then exploded, taking off his hand. "AHHHH!" Reuel cried out as he gripped what was still there on his bleeding right arm.

"Mr. Reuel!" Yukina cried out.

In that moment, Archelaus tried to make a strike on Athanasios while he was distracted. However, Athanasios dodged the blow with ease, and then jumped in order to slash the General's eyes. Archelaus screamed out as blood flowed down his face, but then he felt a sudden pain in his chest and he realized he had just been stabbed by one of Athanasios' blades.

Athanasios smirked as he removed the blade from Archelaus' chest, allowing him to fall to the ground. "It's too bad. You were a fine warrior."

"Spirit Gun!" A large bullet of blue aura was fired and hit Athanasios directly, taking off a huge chunk of his body. "Yeah, got 'im!" Yusuke exclaimed as he, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei entered the Stronghold.

"Yukina! Are you alright?" Kuwabara asked.

"Kazuma! I'm fine, but the Generals are badly hurt." Yukina replied, as she rushed to Archelaus' side and began healing the wound in his chest.

_"Why don't you join them, you annoying brat!"_ Athanasios exclaimed as he lunged at Yukina. All of his body, except for half of his face, was consumed by the black aura and his hand had morphed into a giant claw that was about to tear Yukina to shreds.

"YUKINA!" Hiei and Kuwabara shouted in unison. Hiei appeared between Athanasios and his sister just in time to deflect the attack with his Sword of the Darkness Flame. Kuwabara then ran up and cut the arm off with his Dimensional Sword. However, as soon as the claw was detached, it disappeared and a new one formed on Athanasios' arm.

"What the-" The two boys exclaimed, but were cut off as Athanasios whacked them away.

_"Foolish children."_ Athanasios muttered.

"I don't understand... How can his regenerative abilities be so strong?" Kurama speculated. "He was hit directly with Yusuke's spirit gun, and then his arm was cut off..."

"Don't let your guard down!" Reuel shouted. "This guy says he's immortal! Just take Yukina and get the hell out of here!"

_"Heh. Don't be stupid. Now that you've dared to attack me, none of you will leave here alive!"_ Athanasios screamed with an insanely wide smirk on his face. Suddenly, many spear-like attacks of aura emerged from the black portions of his body and shot at everyone there. However, a large wall of ice shot up, blocking all of Athanasios' attacks.

"What the hell was that?" The boys exclaimed.

"Yukina..." Hiei muttered at his sister, who was standing and sustaining the wall of ice. Everyone's eyes became locked on the girl who, up until now, seemed to be helpless on her own.

_"Heh. So even you've got some fight in you, girl."_ Athanasios said with an amused smirk.

"During the two months that my father trained Hiei and the others, I was also practicing on my own." Yukina stated as she stared intently at Athanasios. "Mr. Athanasios, there's something I don't understand... Why are you doing all this? You've gained all this power and hurt so many people, but for what reason?"

_"Why does there need to be a reason? Perhaps I simply enjoy making others suffer." _Athanasios said.

"I don't believe that's the truth." Yukina stated. "If that's all you want, then why go through the trouble of making an organization like the Black Knights when you have plenty of power on your own?"

For a moment, all was quiet as the others waited for Athanasios' response. His face continued to bear an arrogant smirk, however his eyes now contained deep hatred.

_"I hate this place..."_ Athanasios muttered. _"I hate this entire world. Although for some reason... I don't seem to remember why."_

"That's a load of bullshit." A very familiar voice echoed out. All eyes turned with surprise to see Koray approaching them. "Sorry I'm late for the party. Breaking out of jail took a while."

_"Koray... Just the man I've been so eager to kill."_ Athanasios muttered with a sadistic grin.

"So you've come to help us beat this guy?" Kuwabara demanded.

"Of course." Koray smirked. The others let out a sigh of relief, as they could tell by the way Koray was handling the situation that he had a plan.

"I guess we have no choice but to let you help..." Reuel muttered. "But as soon as this is over, your still getting punished for killing Lady Katana."

"Whatever you say." Koray smiled.

_"Heh. I'm surprised you people still trust him. Don't you know he killed your ruler?"_ Athanasios said as he sent Koray a superior glare.

"Don't take us for fools." Hiei said. "Even if he did kill Katana, the fact remains that you and him are enemies. We can trust him in this fight, at least."

_"What makes you think I'm talking about Katana?" _Athanasios smirked. _"I'm talking about Lord Velimir."_

"Lord Velimir?" Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered as they looked at each other, and then at Kurama, who shrugged his shoulders.

"The previous lord..." Reuel muttered. "That's a gotta be a lie! Everyone knows that Koray was close to Lord Velimir. He would never have killed him... Isn't that right, Koray?"

"No." Koray said simply. "He's telling the truth... I killed Lord Velimir.


	27. Chapter 27

"I was the one who killed Lord Velimir." Koray stated.

All eyes turned to him with a mixture of shock and confusion. They didn't understand why he would choose that moment of all times to confess. It didn't seem as though he was trying to turn his friends against him, but it was such a serious offense that the other Generals could do nothing but hate him. Even Athanasios was stared curiously, wondering why Koray seemed to be playing right into his hands.

"YOU BASTARD!" Archelaus screamed out, having regained consciousness in time to hear Koray's confession. "YOU SICKEN ME! ALL THOSE YEARS WE SPENT TRYING TO TRACK DOWN LORD VELIMIR'S KILLER... AND THE WHOLE TIME IT WAS YOU? HOW THE HELL CAN YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF?" Koray stared at him with a blank expression while Yusuke and Kuwabara tried to keep Archelaus from moving around too much, for fear of making his injuries worse. "LORD VELIMIR WAS LIKE A FATHER TO YOU! I SWEAR IF I COULD SEE, I'D KILL YOU!"

"I'm sorry." Koray said quietly.

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Reuel said as he stood up. "If you're really sorry, then why don't I see any regret in your eyes?"

"I came to terms with what I did to Lord Velimir a long time ago." Koray replied.

"Is that so..." Reuel sighed.

_"Ha... You Generals are so gullible."_ Athanasios said with a smirk. _"Koray isn't sorry about anything. He only does whatever it takes to get what he wants, without any regard to who gets hurt or killed in the process. He never cared about the Island of Wind, or any of you for that matter. Koray is a heartless monster, just like I am."_

"You're wrong, I'm not like you." Koray said as hatred filled his eyes.

_"You're in denial. How sweet."_ Athanasios mocked.

"Screw you!" Koray exclaimed as he sent a large attack of flames at Athanasios.

Athanasios, surrounded by black aura, was completely unaffected by the attack. Suddenly, many spears of black aura emerged from Athanasios' body; targeting Koray. Each caused a large explosion as they hit the ground. However, Koray appeared behind Athanasios, unscathed, and attacked him with black fire. Athanasios blocked Koray's attack with the aura that made up his right arm, and the two canceled each other out.

"Was that the darkness flame?" Yusuke shouted out.

"I didn't know he could do that!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Evidentally he can. And I'm nearly positive he can use the dragon of the darkness flame as well." Hiei said. "He once stopped me when I was in the middle of summoning it, and absorbed all the energy."

"I've never seen him use black fire..." Reuel muttered.

"That's not surprising. Although, it makes sense that he would be able to use the darkness flame." Kurama stated. "But if you look closely, the black aura and the darkness flame seem to be the same kind of attack." The others remained silent as they processed what Kurama said and watched the fight.

More black aura had gathered to replace Athanasios' missing right arm, but this time is was much larger and took the forrm of a giant claw. He lunged forward and attacked Koray relentlessly, matching the fire demon's incredible speed. Koray dodged as much as he could and blocked using black fire, which constantly canceled out both abilities. However, no matter how much the two canceled each other out, Athanasios' aura always came back easily. Eventually, Athanasios managed to get in an attack through Koray's defense, delivering a deep gash to the fire demon's face.

_"What's this, Koray? Running out of energy already?"_ Athanasios said with a wide smirk. _"Surely Serafin gave you more power than that!"_ Koray remained silent as more of Athanasios's attacked managed to get to him, although with his intense pain tolerance, he didn't seem to notice. _"You know, I just realized that what you said before was true. You aren't like me. You're a coward who doesn't have the guts to stand up against the demon kings!"_

"Not this again..." Koray muttered as he fended off more of Athanasios' attacks. "How long are you going to stay stuck in the past? The world's changed since 3000 years ago when you were actually a human being. Accept that fact, and accept the fate that you've chosen for yourself!"

_"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE FATE SERAFIN HAS LAID OUT FOR ME!"_ Athanasios screamed as the aura that made up his right arm intensified. He delivered a swift, angry attack onto Koray that cut through the fire demon's arms and made large, deep slahses across his torso. Koray made no sound as his body was cut up, however his eyes widened as he witnessed the pieces of his arms falling to the ground and the blood gushing out of his wounds.

"Father!" Yukina exclaimed, as she moved to run to him.

"Don't go over there! That guy'll kill you!" Kuwabara exclaimed as he held the ice maiden back.

Tears began to fill Yukina's eyes as she stared at her severly wounded father. "But he needs help..."

"We'll go!" Yusuke and Hiei exclaimed in unison.

"All of you just stay back!" Koray exclaimed. "Don't worry about me, I'm fi-" Koray was cut off as he suddenly lost his balance. The others gasped, as they just barely saw Athanasios tear apart Koray's right leg.

Before he could fall to the ground, Athanasios reached out and grabbed Koray by the neck. _"You're pathetic. If you had done what I did, you wouldn't be in this state!"_ Athanasios then turned to Hiei._ "Hiei, look at this man! Is this how you want to be? I thought you wanted power!"_

"I do want power." Hiei stated simply. "But like I've already said, I have no interest in anything you have to offer."

_"I see."_ Athanasios said. _"In that case, don't expect to leave here alive."_

"Athanasios, I have something I would like to ask you." Kurama said. "Earlier, Koray mentioned that you were once human. If that's the case, then how did you become an immortal, and for what reason?"

For a while Athanasios' face remained blank as he processed Kurama's request. _"Yes... I used to be human. And I was also a weak coward."_ A slight smile spread across his face, and a reminiscent expression clouded his glowing red eyes. _"That was a long time ago..."_

_

* * *

_

Over 3000 years ago, the demons of the underworld had decided to enter into the mortal world. Somehow they had discovered that eating human beings gave them great energy, and they craved it like a drug. Once in a while the demon kings allowed them to indulge in this desire, when the human population was surging. After a couple hundred years it became normal for demons to consume mortals. They lived in fear, wondering when the demons would rise to the surface, bringing with them earthquakes, tidal waves, tornados and fires. For the demons, tormenting humans in this manner was fun. The best fun they had in their long, immortal lives. But it made humans miserable. And I was one of them.

"Run, Thanatos! Get out of here!" My mother called out. We could see the large flames consuming the forest where we lived, and hear the footsteps. We knew the demons had come. The people of our small village had scattered when the attack began, and my mom, my dad and I were left to fend for ourselves. My mom was pregnant, and therefore unable to run very fast, if at all.

"Listen to your mother, and run!" My dad ordered, as he helped my mother.

I had meant to do as they said, but the demons finally caught up to us. I had never seen one before, and the meer sight of them left me frozen with awe and fear. Standing before me were two huge dragons. Compared to them, I was the size of one of their teeth. They shot fire out of their mouths, which burned the forest around us and illuminated their black scales. Their glowing red eyes stared at me for several minutes as if they were savouring the fear that I felt. My parents continued to scream for me to run away, but all that served was to attract the demons' attention. Without an ounce of hesitation they bent down, and ate my parents whole.

My mind was exploding. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out if my mouth. I could feel my body trembling uncontrolably as the demons approached me, and slowly brought their faces close to mine as they prepared to eat me too. However, they suddenly became distracted by something in the distance.

**"It's time for us to leave..."** One of them said.

**"What a pity. Count yourself lucky, boy."** The other said as the two of them spread their wings and flew away.

I didn't feel lucky. I was left alone in the world, unsure of what I was supposed to do with myself. For years, that day was the only thing I could think of and it made me very angry. I hated the demons who did this to me and many others. I hated humans, who just let this happen. But more than anything, I hated myself for being so weak and scared.

I decided that the only thing left to do was to find a way to be the strongest being in the world; strong enough to challenge the demons. I obsessively studied anything to do with the demons, even if it was just legends or speculations. But the closer I got to competely understanding demons, the older I became. I realized that in my lifetime, I would never be able to change anything.

Through a stroke of miracle, I stumbled upon a way to contact one of the demon kings. At this point I was an old man on the brink of death, so with nothing to loose I used the spell. I felt an intense, overwhelming pressence surround me, although I couldn't see what it looked like. And then a voice sounded out,

**"I am Serafin, king of fire demons. Identify yourself, mortal."**

"I am Thanatos." I said shakily.

**"I commend you, for being the first mortal to successfully contact me like this. For all your efforts, you must want something. To satisfy us both, I will hear you out."**

This was the opportunity of a lifetime. I knew what I wanted; I wanted to take vengance for my parents, and all the other lives that had been destroyed. But I couldn't just say that to him. The first step was to get more time. "I want immortality."

**"Interesting."** Serafin said. **"I can grant you immortality, but for a price."**

"What is it?" I asked eagerly, ready to take the offer.

**"In order to become immortal, you must give me your human soul. Is that a problem?"**

"No! It's not a problem at all!" I exclaimed.

**"I see. Then I shall grant your desire, but heed one warning: An immortal can be destroyed by the power of another immortal. If that happens, you will cease to exist competely, and I will not be held responsible."**

And with that, his pressence disappeared. In a few moments, I felt my body changing. I could no longer feel the pains of old age, and my body began to regress to a younger state. I felt free for the first time since I encountered the demons. But I wasn't myself. I was different from before, but it didn't matter. I now had all the time in the world to gain as much power as I wanted.

I changed my name from Thanatos (meaning death) to Athanasios (meaning immortality) and since then I have continued to seek out more power.

* * *

_"So you see, my immortality was a great gift from the demon king Serafin. Since then I havn't spoken to him once, but I have continued to build up a great rebellion against him and the other kings. The first step is making the mortal world mine."_ Athanasios smirked.

"You're crazy..." Yusuke and Kuwabara muttered, while Hiei and Kurama stared, lost in their own thought.

"That stuff about the demon kings... I thought it was all legend." Archelaus said.

"But according to the legends, demons abused their priviledge and the kings decalred that demons of the underworld were forbidden to enter into the mortal world under any circumstance." Reuel explained. "Then they sent some of their obedient subjects to the mortal world in human form in order to live with humans and create peace between the two races. Those demons were given a mortal life, and could reproduce the same way as humans, but when they died they returned to the underworld. That's the way it's been for centuries."

"In other words, Athanasios' grudge is out-dated." Kurama said.

"It's like I said before; you're living in the past." Koray said weakly through Athanasios' grasp on his throat.

_"You've got no business criticizing _me_, Koray!"_ Athanasios shouted at the badly wounded fire demon. _"Aren't you the one who's been constantly obsessing over a woman who's been dead for years? _You're_ the one who's really stuck in the past!"_ And with that, Athanasios' free hand transformed into a long blade, which he used to pierce Koray's heart.

As the blade cut through his body, Koray felt no pain. He could only tell that his life was slowly being bled out, and he became lightheaded and tired. He could faintly hear his name being called out by people who were supposed to be his friends and his children. And then he heard a loud, powerful voice inside his head,

**"Do not let it end like this, Koray. If you die now, our deal is off. You have to finish what I have asked you to do."**

Athanasios dropped Koray to the ground as he removed his arm from the fire demon's chest. Everyone else thought for sure that Koray was dead, and readied themselves to face Athanathios. However, black flames suddenly filled the hole in Koray's chest, and covered his wounds. The flames then gathered where his missing arms and leg were, creating new limbs and allowing Koray to stand up and continue fighting.

_"You're using the black fire to prolong your life just long enough to kill me..."_ Athanasios muttered, looking very unamused. _"I don't understand you. You support Serafin, and work so hard to do whatever he tells you... but for what? What has he promised you? Or do you think that by doing all this, you'll finally gain Hiei's approval?"_

"No... I know that Hiei will never acknowlege me as his father. It's hard to accept, but that's the price I have to pay for wasting so much time." Koray said. Although he was smiling, the only thing that filled his eyes was sadness. "If you must know, Serafin and I made a deal together many years ago that's still in effect. In exchange for my loyalty, Serafin will use his power as a king of the underworld to send me to Spirit World when I die. Where Hina is."

Shock spread across the faces of everyone listening. Even Athanasios was staring at Koray with disbelief.

Then Hiei stepped forward. "So you're saying that all the lies, betrayls, and odd behaviour were done in order to ensure that you could see my mother again?"

"That's right." Koray replied.

"Ridiculous. When someone dies, they're dead. That's it." Hiei said. "Don't you even realize the two of you were never supposed to be together in the first place?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Koray said. "But despite what was supposed to happen, we both made our choice that day. And I don't regret anything." Koray then dodged a large blast of aura that came from Athanasios.

_"So, in exchange for destroying me you get to be reunited with your loved one for the rest of eternity. How boring."_ Athanasios muttered as he approached Koray, and began attacking him.

"That's right. In fact, the only reason I joined the Black Knights at all was because Serain told me to. So that I could get close to you." Koray managed to dodge Athanasios' assult easier this time around, and the two became engaged in a close-combat battle.

"Damn, this whole situation's making my head hurt..." Yusuke whined.

"Yeah! I mean, how is Koray supposed to kill Athanasios? I thought he was immortal!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Clearly, they both know something we don't." Kurama said.

"Tch! Clearly." Hiei muttered, as he continued to be frustrated by his father's lack of honesty.

Suddenly, Hiei's eyes widened as his body went limb and he fell to the ground. Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara and Yukina tried to wake him or find out what was wrong, but he seemed perfectly fine...

* * *

Hiei was surrounded by nothing but darkness. He felt a little light-headed, and it was almost as if he was floating. Suddenly, a man appeared. He was tall, with long black hair and wore elegant black and red armor. His glowing crimson eyes were intense, and seemed to pierce right through Hiei.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked.

**"We already know each other."** Hiei recognized the voice as Serafin's.** "But this isn't what I actually look like. My true demon form is something more... grand."**

"Right..." Hiei said. "So what do you want, anyway?"

**"You know what I want." **Serafin said with a smirk. **"I want Athanasios dead."**

"Yeah, and what does it have to with me? Don't you have my father to take care of that?" Hiei said impatiently.

**"Yes... But I have my doubts as to whether or not he'll be able to defeat Athanasios on his own."**

"Why's that?" Hiei asked. "They seemed to have equal strength last I checked."

**"The problem, however, is that Koray is not an immortal."** Serafin sighed as Hiei's expression showed he didn't completely understand. **"I may as well explain everything... You see, once Athanasios became a genuine threat to the mortal world the other three kings became angry that I gave him immortality in the first place. As such, he bacame my mess to clean up. Unfortunately, since the problems that occured 3000 years ago, demons of the underworld were absolutely forbidden from entering into the mortal world. The alternate solution was to grant a mortal demon the powers of an immortal, in the hopes that he could defeat Athanasios."**

"What do you mean by 'powers of an immortal'?" Hiei questioned.

**"The black aura, and black flames. You call it the darkness flame... It is an ability unique to immortals that has two main purposes; the first being that it is the only technique that can kill another immortal. The second is that when used by a demon in human form, it gives a preview of what that person's true demonic form looks like." **Serafin explained. **"When your father was concieved, I granted him the ability to use the darkness flame, and it passed on to you. That's why both of you have black hair; it's proof that you possess a power that is not of the mortal world."**

"Alright, I follow you so far." Hiei said. "But what's the problem? Why do you doubt that my father can defeat Athanasios?"

**"Simply because he's mortal. You've seen the wounds inflicted upon him; they're fatal. His life is just barely hanging on by the power of the darkness flame. He only has one chance to use the full potential of the black flames to defeat Athanasios, who has mastered his black aura during his immortal life."**

"I get it now. You want me to use my dragon of the darkness flame to help him out." Hiei said with a sigh.

**"That is correct. However, there is something you should know; Using the dragon of the darkness flame is a one-shot technique for mortals. Once you use it at its full power, your mortal life ends."**

"That's ridiculous! I've used the dragon of the darkness flame several times!" Hiei exclaimed.

**"Oh please... Those attempts were hardly the true power of the darkness flame. You didn't even understand what you were doing."** Serafin said with a chuckle. **"But I will tell you, that for every attempt you made, your life was shortened several years."**

"Great..." Hiei muttered sarcastically. "Your going to sacrifice not only my father's life, but mine too in order to clean up a mess you made in the first place."

**"No, I'm not going to force you to give up your life to help my cause. It's your choice whether you want to help me or not."** Serafin said as his intense eyes met Hiei's. **"Now, I've told you the truth about what I want... So it's time for you to tell me what you want."**

"Excuse me?" Hiei said, as he eyed Serafin curiously.

**"Why did you leave your world to come to this one? What did you want to get out of going along with what your father wanted?"**

Hiei was taken aback by the unexpected prying, and stared at Serfin with wide eyes as he thought about how he would answer. "Why do you need me to tell you? Can't you read my mind?"

**"You don't get it. The point of asking isn't so much for my knowlege, but for yours."** Serafin explained with a slight grin. **"You are very good at convincing yourself that you make decisions for reasons that are not the truth. For instance, when you lied to your sister about who you are. It wasn't because you didn't think she would accept you; it was because you were a coward."**

"That's not true..." Hiei muttered in a feeble attempt at denial.

**"And I'm sure you're going to try and tell me that the only reason you left in the first place was because your father pressured you, which is also more lies. Before you decide whether or not your going to help me, you have to figure out where your place is in the world. In either worlds, I should say."**

"I guess I never really had a place in the world..." Hiei admitted. "No matter what I did or where I went, something always seemed off and I wasn't happy. You want me to say that I came here to find a place where I could just be myself."

Serafin nodded. **"Did you find what you were looking for?" **

"I think you already know the answer to that." Hiei said as he looked Serafin in the eye.

**"Then it's time for you to make your choice."**

* * *

**___Hey guys, author speaking. Just wanted to say sorry for taking so long with the update, I've been crazy busy lately. And thanks to those who have been reviewing, I REALLY appreciate the support._**

**___I was hoping to make this the final chapter, but there was waaaay too much to cram into one chapter so there's gonna be one more (hopefully it'll be done in only one more chapter). And I realize that this chapter could get a little confusing at times, so if there was anything you didn't understand just say so in your review and i shall reply :)_**

**___Good luck at school (for those of you going back) _**


	28. Chapter 28

"Hiei, are you alright?" Yukina asked as Hiei woke up from his unexpected faint.

"What the hell happened? You just fell over!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"It's nothing." Hiei replied. "I was just having a word with Serafin. He explained a lot to me." Hiei glanced over to where his father was still going at it with Athanasios. As far as he could tell, they still seemed to be on even ground, in fact it seemed as though no time had passed at all.

"Hiei, I hate to tell you what to do, but I don't think Serafin is trustworthy." Kurama said.

"Yeah, he's the guy who made Athanasios immortal in the first place! You shouldn't believe a word he says!" Kuwabara shouted out.

Hiei paused for a moment. He hadn't thought to ask Serafin why he gave Athanasios immortality in the first place. "It doesn't matter." Hiei said finally. "As far as I'm concerned, he's the only one around here who's bothered to tell me the truth about what's been going on."

The others sighed in defeat, knowing that once Hiei had made up his mind, they wouldn't be able to change it.

"So, what now? It doesn't look like those two will be finished for a while." Yusuke asked as he motioned to Koray and Athanasios.

"Now it's time I joined the fight." Hiei stated as he began to walk over towards the on-going brawl.

"Are you crazy?" Yusuke and Kuwabara exclaimed in union. "You can't compete with those two!"

"Hiei, you could be killed..." Yukina said as she tugged on her brother's arm.

"Yeah, it's possible..." Hiei said with a sad grin, as he avoided Yukina's eyes. "But you know, you really don't need me there to protect you anymore. You're a strong person... I'm sure you'd do just fine without me." With that, Hiei pulled away from his sister and continued on towards the fight.

As Hiei drew near, Koray and Athanasios ceased their fighting and turned to look at him with curious eyes.

"_Well, well..."_ Athanasios muttered with an amused grin. _"It looks like someone else has come to die."_

As soon as Athanasios spoke, black flames began to surround Hiei. The energy was different than his previous attempts; it was much more intense, and flowed out of Hiei's entire body. As more energy was channelled, the flames spread out further, threatening to engulf everyone in the vicinity.

Koray stared at his son, surprised that he was putting his life at risk like this. "Hiei, listen... You don't have to-"

"Spare me the speech. I've made up my mind. I'm doing this because I want to." Hiei interrupted. "And besides, I'm sure she wants to see you just as much as you want to see her."

For the first time, Hiei saw Koray smile sincerely, as he said, "Thank you."

Suddenly, black flames surrounded Koray in the same way they surrounded Hiei. However, Koray's aura was far more powerful. As the two energies collided, they filled the air with a hot and heavy aura. Athanasios' expression became panicked, as he found himself directly between Koray and Hiei's black flames, which threatened to destroy him. The immortal tried attacking the two of them with his aura, but it disintegrated under the combined aura of the two fire demons.

"_I admit, you two make a great team."_ Athanasios stuttered nervously. _"You know Koray, I've been thinking; since you have Serafin stalking around in your head, do you mind if I ask him a question?"_

"What's on your mind?" Koray said.

"_Ask him why he bothered to grant me immortality in the first place, if he was just going to end up destroying me later on."_

For a moment, Koray remained silent. All eyes turned to him anxiously awaiting a response. Finally, Koray sighed and said, "You won't find the answer satisfying."

"_I don't care. Tell me!"_ Athanasios demanded.

Koray hesitated, but eventually gave in. "He says he did it... because he was bored."

"_What...?"_ Athanasios muttered as he stared with wide, displeased eyes. _"That's it?"_

"After living as long as he has, all his duties became repetitive and boring." Koray explained which only caused Athanasios to become angrier. "When you came to him with your request, he realized that there had never been a situation like this in the mortal world during his reign. He knew it would give him something more challenging to deal with. That's all."

"_No, that can't be true..."_ Athanasios muttered. _"That means this whole time, I was just..."_

"That's right, this whole time you were just his toy." Hiei said with a confident smirk.

"Think about it." Koray continued. "If you can barely stand up against Hiei and I, two being who aren't even immortal, then you never posed any threat to the underworld."

Athanasios became completely speechless as Koray and Hiei's energy reached their maximum. The mere aura they gave off seemed to suffocate him, and he realized that he truly didn't have a chance of winning. After all, the two fire demons hadn't even used their technique yet.

As Hiei readied to send out the dragon of the darkness flame, he felt a sensation like none before. It was exhilarating, and even though he felt it draining away his mortal life, he felt more alive than ever before. The power coming out of him was so strong he had only ever imagined possessing it. He felt strong sense of superiority over not only his opponent, Athanasios, but over the entire world.

"Hiei, are you ready?" Koray asked.

Hiei glanced over to Yukina one last time, then back to his father. "I'm ready."

Simultaneously, the two demons released their respective dragon of the darkness flame. The black flames that had gathered around them shot into the air, sending off an even stronger aura than before. The two energies began to take the form of huge dragons. Hiei's was recognizable by his friends as the long, thin Chinese-style dragon, except this time, it was much larger and had wings. Koray's dragon, on the other hand, came out even larger than Hiei's. It took the form of a western-style dragon with four legs, wings and even horns.

Once completed, the two dragons flew down towards Athanasios, who could do nothing but stare as his destruction drew closer and closer. Upon impact, a large explosion that resembled a nuclear bomb made with black flames erupted. Athanasios' body was completely destroyed, completely erasing him from existence.

As Hiei and Koray were consumed by the explosion, they felt their lives quickly fading away. But strangely enough, neither of them felt any pain or fear. They were overwhelmed by a strange calm, and felt free.

* * *

"**Koray, I want to thank you for your services to me."** Serafin said as he appeared in front of the fire demon in his human form.

"It was an honour to serve you." Koray said with his usual smile.

"**As promised, I will send you to your loved one. You've more than deserved it."** Serafin said as he extended a hand to Koray.

"Then it's my turn to thank you." Koray replied as he took Serafin's hand.

Suddenly, everything around him faded, and became replaced by grey, misty surrounding. Koray looked around, and spotted a figure in the distance. As he approached it, he could make out feminine features, which were very familiar to him. His face bore a hopeful smile as he could now make out the light blue color of her long hair, and the recognizable kimono that all ice maidens wore.

"Hina?" He called out softly.

The woman quickly looked up, slightly startled. Her deep blue eyes widened as they met with Koray's. The two started at each other for several minutes, before a smile grew on the woman's face. "Koray... It's you..." She said in a tone that was barely a whisper.

"Yeah. I've come back." Koray replied with a wide smile. The two ran to each other, and tightly embraced each other. From that moment on, the two lovers would never be parted again...

* * *

"**Well, Hiei, it looks like you have another choice to make."**

"What do you mean?" Hiei asked.

Serafin chuckled, amused by Hiei's density. **"You're dead, but you no longer have a set destination. Having been born in the other world, one would say that you should be sent off to Spirit World. I could even arrange for you to be with your parents. But we both know that's not what you want."**

"Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to stomach that..." Hiei muttered as the image of his father acting all lovey-dovey came into his mind. "I'm not too big a fan of Spirit World anyway, if you know what I mean. Got any better ideas?"

"**You could come down to the Underworld with me. You've certainly proven yourself worthy of joining the immortals. I could use a fine warrior like you. And if you enjoyed the experience of using the powers of the immortals, you could have all that power and more at your everyday disposal."**

"More power than what I just used..." Hiei said with a smirk. "Sounds like fun."

And with that, the two demons became engulfed in flames and disappeared.

* * *

"It's been a year since our last meeting." King Enma said with his deep, thunderous voice. "I take it Athanasios is gone for good?"

"That's right. Hiei and Koray passed on as well, but I suspect you already knew that." Kurama said firmly as he, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina and Koenma stood in King Enma's presence in order to explain what had happened in the other world.

"Indeed, I was most surprised when I found out that fire demon somehow infiltrated the deep corners of Spirit World in order to be with that woman." King Enma replied with a scowl.

"He didn't do it. Serafin did." Kurama explained.

"So you even know about the demon kings..." King Enma sighed. "What about the Island of Wind? How are they holding out?"

"Fine, actually." Kurama replied. "When we left, the Generals had finished a large-scale raid on the Island of Fire. Most of the remaining members of the Black Knights have been imprisoned. And Archelaus is now ruling the Island of Wind."

"I see." King Enma said. "Junior, I'll leave you to _take care_ of the rest."

"Sorry, dad, but I'm not going to erase their memories again." Koenma stated firmly.

"What's this..?" King Enma muttered.

"Personally, I don't agree with the way you've been handling affairs that have to do with other worlds." Koenma explained. "So I'm taking over. And these four have volunteered to help me."

"This is mutiny!" King Enma exclaimed.

"No, dad. It's politics. I'm just as much a ruler of Spirit World as you are, and I have every right to take this on." Koenma stated.

"You don't really think I'll just sit around and let you do this..." King Enma said as he stood up.

The boys and Yukina readied themselves for whatever was to come, but then suddenly the giant door to the room that they occupied was blown up. All eyes turned to see what had happened, but then black flames filled the room. Out of the fire emerged a small figure with spiked black hair, who wore black armour. Everyone instantly recognized him.

"Long time no see, huh." Hiei said with his usual smirk.

"Hiei!" Yusuke exclaimed as he ran over and tackled his old friend, followed by Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Hey... Get off before I kill you!" Hiei shouted uncomfortably.

"Would'ya look at that, not even death can cure his bad attitude." Yusuke said, making everyone but Hiei burst out into laughter.

"What are you doing here?" King Enma demanded.

"Just delivering a message from Serafin." Hiei replied, causing King Enma to shudder. "He wants to inform you that he'll be pleased to make negotiations with you bastards, provided it's the toddler who's handling it."

"Watch it, short-stuff..." Koenma muttered irritably, while Yusuke and Kuwabara giggled in the background.

"And another thing, which comes from the both of us," Hiei said, sending the king of Spirit World a piercing death glare. "You leave my parents alone. If you do anything to separate them, or make them miserable, I promise we'll repay you ten-fold."

As Hiei said that, the black flames spread further into the giant room, melting down the walls and ceiling.

"Well, that's all." Hiei shrugged as he turned to leave. "I better get going. It's against the rules for me to be here too long."

"Hiei..." Yukina said, attracting the attention of her brother. "I'll miss you." She said with a smile, which Hiei returned.

"Take care, buddy." Yusuke called out.

"Yeah, you were a pain in the ass, but I guess I'll miss you anyway." Kuwabara said.

"Try not to terrorize too many people." Kurama said jokingly.

"Hn. Whatever." Hiei said with a wave of his hand as he disappeared into the black fire.

**END**

* * *

**So, that's all. I'm kind of sad to see this end, as I've been working on it for some time. Amber Moon is definitely one of my favorite fanfics that I've gotten around to writing. Thank you to all the readers that have supported my story, I can't tell you how great it is to know that other people enjoyed reading it. I hope you all liked the ending :D**


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